


Hot For Teacher

by LightsUpInTheNorth



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, Billy has tattoos and piercings, English teacher!Billy, Fluff, Language Teacher!Robin, M/M, Math Teacher!Steve, PE Teacher!Heather, Steve is preppy, also Steve's into art so he takes care of Art club, because it kind of fits you know, he's also sunshine personified, mentions of child abuse, slight angst, the title is from Van Halen, which is canon tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:08:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25687066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightsUpInTheNorth/pseuds/LightsUpInTheNorth
Summary: Billy was close to vibrating out of his skin with nerves, but as Max exited her bedroom and sat down in front of him at the kitchen table, he relaxed his face into his usual indifferent mask and pretended he didn’t have a care in the world.“What’s up, shitbird?”She only groaned in reply. She was still a bit mad at him for making them move from California to Indiana, but Billy hadn’t had much choice in the matter. Schools ready to hire someone like Billy as an English teacher weren’t that common.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley/Heather Holloway
Comments: 78
Kudos: 298





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! Here is a Teachers AU I first started posting on Tumblr. I thought I'd put it on AO3 too, for people who don't go on Tumblr, but would like to read this :)

Billy was close to vibrating out of his skin with nerves, but as Max exited her bedroom and sat down in front of him at the kitchen table, he relaxed his face into his usual indifferent mask and pretended he didn’t have a care in the world.

“What’s up, shitbird?” 

She only groaned in reply. She was still a bit mad at him for making them move from California to Indiana, but Billy hadn’t had much choice in the matter. Schools ready to hire someone like Billy as an English teacher weren’t that common. To look at the bright side, at least Neil was far away from them and wouldn’t cause any trouble. Max knew all that, hypothetically, but having to leave her friends had been tough on her.

“Slept well?”

“Fine…” She grumbled.

“Wow, aren’t you in a radiant mood on this fine morning.”

Max rolled her eyes.

He knew he should just stop needling her and leave her to sulk in peace until he had to get to his first teachers meeting to prepare the upcoming school year. However, focusing on her allowed him to not focus on himself, and that was exactly what he needed at that moment.

Max started staring at him, then, and a smile slowly spread across her face. Billy, who had been fidgeting unconsciously with his empty coffee cup, stopped moving all together, which only served to make him appear more suspicious.

“Are you nervous?” She asked, with a teasing glint in her eyes.

Of course, it took making fun of Billy to lighten her mood. Billy sighed. What had his life come to? He was being mocked by a fifteen-year-old wearing neon pink unicorn pajamas and sporting a rather severe case of bed head (that’s what she got for not asking him to braid her hair before bed).

“Pff, no.” He scoffed.

According to the way Max’s smile widened, it wasn’t a convincing answer. How could he have thought he’d be able to fool her?

Billy turned away from her to fetch the carton of orange juice from the fridge. A stray lock of hair fell in front of his eyes and he tucked it behind his ear. His day hadn’t even properly started that his bun was already falling apart.

“It’s going to be fine, you know that right?”

“Yeah. Thank you for these words of wisdom.”

Billy sounded sarcastic, but he was actually grateful that Max was trying to reassure him.

“Are you going to wear that, though?”

Billy instantly looked down at his outfit. He had put on a short-sleeved blue button-down, jeans with no hole in them, and shoes that were not sneakers. That was the best he could do with what he had in his closet.

“Yeah, why? What’s wrong with it?” He asked.

“Nothing, nothing. You look good.”

Max sounded like she was holding something back, and Billy wouldn’t have it.

“Come on, just tell me.”

“Okay fine… You sure about the short sleeves? People are gonna stare.”

She had a point. Billy had been planning on wearing long sleeves, as he had for his job interview, but it was a hot day. Scorching hot. Billy was already in danger of sweating gallons because of stress, he didn’t need the heat on top of that. Anyway, he wasn’t going to hide his tattoos all year. They might be a bit much for a first meeting, but well… at least he had taken off most of his piercings.

Billy shrugged. 

“I can deal with that.”

-

He regretted his misplaced confidence as soon as he got out of his car and set foot on the concrete of the Hawkins High parking lot. Max had been right, people were going to stare. Usually, he liked having people stare at him, but not in the way his new coworkers were certainly going to. He wanted to have eyes on him because he looked good… not because he looked unprofessional.

He had a jacket in the trunk of his car, but if he arrived at the meeting clad in a thick black leather jacket when it was ninety-five degrees out, people would take him for a weirdo, which was maybe worse than them taking him for a fraud. Fraud it was, then.

He stumbled upon a young woman smoking outside the main building and tried to hide his uneasiness as she appraised him.

“Hi! Are you the new teacher? William, is it?” She asked him with a bright smile. 

“Uh… yeah. Please, just call me Billy.”

She shook his extended hand.

“Heather, I teach PE”, she said as she stubbed her cigarette out, “come with me.” 

Billy followed her, glad taht she had apparently taken him under her wing. Now he didn’t have to look for the teachers lounge. It was one less thing to worry over. 

-

As they entered the room, Billy’s senses were assaulted by the smell of coffee and the jumble of ongoing conversations.

He’d barely known her for two minutes, but Heather was like a lifeline in this unfamiliar and overwhelming place. She pointed at someone who was reading a book in one of the chairs closest to the door.

“Here is my friend Robin.” 

As they approached her, she got up to hug Heather and then shake Billy’s hand. She looked down at his arms and stared for a few seconds. Billy braced himself for a negative comment, but what he got instead was “nice tatts”.

“Thanks.”

He was going to ask her what subject she taught, but Heather talked first.

“Is Steve not there yet?” 

“He is! Murray has just been talking his ears off ever since he got there.” Robin gestured toward the other side of the room.

“Ouch”, Heather winced, “conspiration theories again?”

“You know it”, she confirmed.

“Why haven’t you rescued the poor boy?”

Robin cackled.

“Felt like being a little mean.” 

“Well, I’m gonna help him. Because, unlike you, I’m a good friend.” Heather said, before leaving in the direction Robin had indicated.

“So, William –“

“Billy.”

“Sorry, Billy. Is it your first year of teaching?”

“Yeah…”

“Are you nervous?”

What was it with people asking him this question today?

Billy shrugged, hoping he would be able to deceive Robin’s assessing eyes. He had a reputation to uphold… well, to build and then to uphold.

“Not particularly.”

“Cool.” She said, frowning slightly.

She seemed to doubt him. She would have been right to, but Billy found it outrageous nonetheless. He could deal with Max seeing right through his bullshit. She was his sister. Robin, on the other hand, was only a coworker. One he had met less than five minutes ago, at that..This could not fly! 

Thankfully, Heather got back to them before Robin could interrogate him any further. Billy looked behind her to greet the Steve guy they had mentioned, but he couldn’t even get a “hello” out. All the air was punched out of his lungs.

The man was so gorgeous that Billy got a little weak in the knees, even though he wasn’t easy to impress.

The guy was all prim and proper, which wasn’t usually Billy’s type. It shouldn’t have worked for him, but it did. Oh God, it did. The contrast between the guy’s preppy clothing style and his messy soft-looking hair did things to Billy.

There was a wide smile on Steve’s face, but it slowly faded into a straight line as he gave Billy a onceover. Great… he was a judgmental asshole. Just Billy’s luck. Of course, he couldn’t be that pretty and be nice too. That wouldn’t have been fair to the average person.

Billy could see Steve quickly hiding his discomfort behind a smile. He noticed how it was less bright and sincere than his earlier one, too.

“Hi… I’m Steve, nice to meet you.”

Billy considered ignoring Steve’s extended hand, but he didn’t want to get in trouble with any of his coworkers before the school year had even started, so he sucked it up. If Steve could pretend he didn’t hold Billy in contempt, Billy could pretend he didn’t think Steve was an asshole.

He’d just avoid the guy as much as he could. Teachers weren’t obligated to spend that much time together, anyway. It wouldn’t be that hard.

Would it?


	2. Chapter 1

Trying to avoid Steve Harrington soon proved to be impossible. He was pretty much everywhere. The fact he was close to Robin and Heather, who Billy himself had quickly befriended, didn’t help. Steve was always hanging with them in the teachers’ lounge before class and eating with them at the cafeteria at lunch. And, as if it weren’t awkward enough already, Steve and Billy almost never interacted directly. Apparently, Steve was tolerating Billy’s presence, but it didn’t go any further than that. Beside a half hearted “hello” when they saw each other, Steve barely ever said anything to him.

Billy tried to start conversations with him. Several times. But Steve always answered shortly, so Billy dropped it.

And he was angry about it.

Because, even though it pained it greatly to admit it, Billy would have loved for Steve and him to be friends.

Every single person in this school seemed to adore Steve, from the students to the staff.

At least a couple of Billy’s students arrived late to English whenever they had Math with Steve beforehand. They always served Billy the same excuse: they had a question of utmost important to ask “Mr. Harrington”, and it couldn’t have waited their next Math class. Billy didn’t buy the bullshit. Strangely, no one arrived late because they had something to discuss with the teacher when they had History with Murray or Science with Sam before English. Half the students had a crush on “Mr. Harrington”, and that was it.

The students regarding Steve like some kind of God was bad enough without the other teachers doing it too. Robin and Heather hugged him all the time, and Murray was constantly holding him hostage about some weird documentary he had watched or whatever theory he had last come up with, and the school counselor, Joyce, smiled extra warm every time she saw him. Even Hopper, the headmaster, would light up when he talked with Steve.

And Billy understood why. Because, while Steve didn’t lose any love on Billy, he was a ray of sunshine to everyone else. He gave his coworkers bright smiles, asked them how they were as if he genuinely cared (and he probably did) about what was going on in their lives, he gave his students encouragements when they came to the teachers’ lounge asking for him during recess (which happened far more often that it should have) because they had trouble with some mathematical concept that Billy didn’t give a damn about.

Steve was a saint with everlasting patience… Except when it came to Billy, apparently. And Billy was so envious he was nearly green with it.

He was also feeling self-conscious, wondering what Steve had seen in him to shun him even though his kindness knew no bound where anyone else was concerned. It couldn’t just be that Billy looked unprofessional, right? Some people that he’d seen Steve interact with enthusiastically had traits far more negative than that, at least in Billy’s book. It made no sense and frustrated him to no end.

He was starting to think that Steve’s dislike of him was just a visceral reaction and had no valid reason. Then, Steve had to go and do something confusing.

Billy was eating lunch in the cafeteria, waiting for Heather and Robin (and Steve, by extension) to join him, and Steve sat down in front of him. Billy immediately noticed the huge piece of chocolate cake on his tray.

“How come you got some cake? I saw someone take the last piece right in front of me.”

Billy was feeling absurdly sour over it. He could have really gone for something sweet.

“Oh… Maria saved it for me.” Steve admitted.

At least, he had the decency to look sheepish.

“Right…” Billy replied, pouting a little.

Of course, one of the lunch ladies had put a piece of cake aside just for the Lord and Savior of Hawkins High. Billy should have known.

“Do you want it?”

Billy blinked at Steve, answering a second too late to appear unsurprised by the question.

“Ugh… no, thank you.”

Had Steve really… offered to give him his dessert? Had he really been nice to Billy? Or had Billy just hallucinated the entire thing?

“You sure? I honestly wouldn’t mind…” Steve said, looking at his plate rather than at Billy.

He was just saying that to be polite, obviously. Billy wasn’t going to take his dessert away from him. It would only make Steve dislike him more.

“I’m sure.”

“Okay.” Steve looked up from his plate and offered a small forced smile, before focusing on his food once again.

Things were already back to normal (ie. Steve not talking to him), then.

Heather and Robin arrived barely a minute later, saving them from the awkward silence that had taken place after their thirty-second conversation (if it could even be called that).

As soon as he had finished eating, Steve announced:

“I’ve gotta scoot. I have to prepare some stuff before my next class.”

He had already got up from his chair when he reached the end of his sentence. 

“You still on for tomorrow?” Robin asked.

“Sure thing. See you then!”

Steve took his tray and walked toward the exit in quick strides.

“What’s tomorrow?” Billy asked.

“We’re going to Benny’s coffee shop to grade some papers. You can come if you want.”

Billy had just played himself, hadn’t he? He had asked out of curiosity. He hadn’t been expecting to be invited along to whatever Robin and Steve had planned.

“I wouldn’t want to intrude”, was Billy’s last ditched effort to avoid what was sure to be an extremely awkward afternoon.

He could have come up with some fake excuse, but he was uncomfortable with the idea of lying to Robin. Because she’d been nice to him so far, and also because he was almost certain she would see right through him. She was far too observant for Billy’s good.

“Nonsense, you wouldn’t be intruding.” Robin rolled her eyes.

“Uh… okay, then. Thanks.”

Billy was about to eat his vanilla pudding, aka his sad non-chocolate cake dessert, when Max came up to their table and awkwardly said “hello” to Heather and Robin.

“Something you want?” Billy questioned, because she was obviously there to ask him something but wouldn’t spit it out.

“I’m going to Art club this afternoon. It ends at six… Will you come get me?”

Billy arched an eyebrow.

“We have an Art club?”

Also, since when was Max into art?

“Yeah… well actually today’s the first session… whatever. Will you drive me back home or not?”

“Can’t you skate?”

Now Billy was just being an asshole. Max had been skating to and from school most days since, according to her, it was “uncool” to be seen hanging with a teacher… which was stupid because 1. Billy was her brother, and 2. There was nothing uncool about him.

“I… ugh… well. I broke my skateboard.”

Max bit her lower lip.

Billy sighed.

“Again?”

“Yeah… sorry.”

“Okay, fine, I’ll drive you home.” Billy conceded, making a quick mental note to go buy Max a new skateboard. For the third time this year.

“Thanks. Later.”

She was gone as quickly as she had come, leaving Billy to deal with Robin and Heather’s puzzled faces.

“What was that?” Heather asked.

“Maxine Mayfield…?” Billy said, hoping to avoid this particular conversation.

The universe didn’t want him to avoid things that day, though.

“I know that, dumbass. You know each other?”

“Yeah, she’s my sister.”

“What?! How come we didn’t know that?”

“We don’t have the same name, whatever. It’s not that big a deal.” Billy mumbled.

“Yeah… but still… you could have told us.”

“Here honey, have some cake, it’s delicious.” Robin said, extending her fork to Heather.

Billy was thankful for the distraction. But he mainly focused on the cake, that he had only now taken notice of.

“Did Maria save that for you?” He asked.

Robin frowned.

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“Never mind.” Billy said.

-

Billy chose to stay at school after his last class and to wait in the teachers’ lounge until Art club was over and Max was ready to go home. He would have used the time to grade some papers, but he was supposed to do that tomorrow afternoon with Robin… and Steve. So he spent the hour and a half reading, instead.

He went to the classroom, which Max had given him the number of by text, five minutes before the session was supposed to end. He waited at least fifteen minutes before the first student left the room, greeting Billy on the way out.

Max came out last, along with El, the headmaster’s adopted daughter. She was one of Billy’s students. She had some troubles in English because, from what he had been told, she had only started learning the language recently. She was pretty quiet, maybe because of that exact reason, but she seemed like a very sweet girl. It would be good for Max to hang out with her. Billy didn’t dare ask because he didn’t want to put Max on the spot or make her feel bad, but he feared she had yet to make friends at school.

Billy’s thoughts were interrupted when none other than Steve Harrington emerged from the classroom right after the girls. Well, that explained the ten minutes Billy had had to wait.

Steve had paints all over his hands, and some on his shirt. There was even a little blue spot on his cheek. He looked painfully cute. Billy didn’t like it one bit.

“Billy?” Steve asked, sounding as shocked as Billy felt. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to pick my sister up.” He said, gesturing to Max. “You run the Art club?”

Billy didn’t mean to sound this disbelieving, but he was having a hard time reconciling Math teacher and art enthusiast. Was that judgmental? Was Billy a hypocrite?

“We don’t have a real art teacher so… uh… for lack of a better option, I’m taking care of it for the time being.”

“You’re great at it, Steve.” El said with a beaming smile.

Did all his students call him Steve or was it only the headmaster’s daughter? Billy was intrigued.

“Oh thanks, El. You’re too nice.” 

Billy almost said: “that’s the pot calling the kettle black”, but he thankfully kept his mouth shut.

Steve locked the classroom door and then turned back to them. 

“Well, girls, Billy, have a good weekend. See you on Monday.”

“Actually, you’ll be seeing me tomorrow.”

What had happened to Billy’s mouth staying shut?

“Oh… you’re coming? That’s… that’s great.” Steve stammered.

He smiled, but it was too late: Billy had seen the disappointment in his eyes.

“Yeah… great. Have a good evening, Steve.” He sounded cold, as he said it.

“Y-you too.”

Yes… The coffee date was going to go swimmingly.


	3. Chapter 2

Billy didn’t know how he had ended up in this situation, this situation being Steve and he making out in the otherwise empty teachers’ lounge, but he certainly wasn’t complaining. He wanted to keep Steve’s soft lips on his forever. Sadly, he didn’t get his way: there was a loud bang, and suddenly Steve’s lips were gone. Steve was gone too, as well as the teachers’ lounge. Billy woke up at home, in his bed, hard as a rock in the basket-ball shorts he was wearing as pajamas.

Great, he got an erection just from dreaming he and Steve were kissing. What was he? A teenager? That was pathetic.

Billy was considering rubbing one out, despite the embarrassment, but there was another loud bang that made him remember why he had woken up in the first place.

What the fuck was happening this early on a Saturday?

Billy instantly worried Max had fallen or, worse, that someone had broken into the flat and would hurt her (highly improbable in such a small town, but Billy wasn’t alert enough to be logical). The concern killed his arousal in two seconds tops. He shot up from bed and exited his bedroom in a hurry.

He found Max in their open kitchen, mixing what appeared to be pancakes ingredients.

“What was that noise?” He asked, in lieu of a greeting. 

“I dropped the pan. Sorry.”

“There were two noises.”

“I dropped the mixing bowl too. Let me live! It’s your fault, you stored both these things on the highest shelf” Max complained.

“Hey, no need for a defense, I’m not accusing you. I was just worried, shitbird.”

“Oh… well, I’m okay.”

“And you’re making pancakes, so I’m certainly not going to complain.” Billy added.

“Who told you I was making some for you?”

Billy pouted, even though he knew Max was bluffing. He could see the amount of batter in the mixing bowl. She had quite an appetite, but there was no way she’d be able to eat all of that on her own.

“So mean, so early in the morning.”

“What can I say, I love messing with you.” 

Paradoxically, Billy was happy that she did. When they had first met, he’d been a perpetually angry teenager, and teeny tiny Max had done everything she could to stay out of his way. Once Susan had announced she was ill, though, Billy had tried his hardest to be the brother Max deserved. After Susan’s death, Billy had looked after Max and kept her safe from his father until he had turned legal. He had then fought to get Max away from Neil and had obtained full custody of her. 

It had been hard to balance getting his degree, working part-time jobs, and taking care of Max. Even more so with Neil trying to steer trouble every now and again. But they had made it out alright, in the hand, and Billy didn’t regret a second of it.

“Sit your ass down.” Max said as she turned the stove on.

“Oh no, no way. You ‘sit your ass down’. I’ll take it from here.”

Max was good at finding the best recipes and at mixing ingredients, but the cooking process was another thing entirely: she had nearly burned the kitchen down almost every time she had tried using the oven or the stove. Her cooking privileges had been revoked after the fifth time.

“Ugh, fine.”

Billy had two plates full on pancakes in no time. He put one in front of Max and went to sit down with his own on the other side of the table. The second his ass touched his chair, Max asked:

“So, you have plans with Steve and Robin this afternoon?”

Billy frowned.

“First of all, it’s Mrs. Buckley and Mr. Harrington for you”, he started, just to get on her nerves (he didn’t give a fuck how she called her teachers), “and second, how do you know that?”

Max arched an eyebrow.

“You literally talked about it with Steve right in front of me yesterday”, she said, ignoring Billy’s reprimand (no surprise, there).

“Oh… right… I did.”

Truthfully, Billy had stopped paying attention to Max and El the second he had laid eyes on Steve and the dumb spot of blue paint that had been resting on his cheek as if it had any right to.

“So, what are you guys going to do?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but we’re going to grade papers.”

“Well, that’s exciting.”

Her sarcasm was off the charts.

“Tell me about it”, Billy mumbled, around a mouthful of pancake.

“Ew, gross.”

Billy stuffed even more pancake into his mouth, in defiance, before he spoke again:

“So, Art club, uh? What’s up with that?”

They hadn’t had an opportunity to talk about it the day before, because Friday night was movie night, and they had eaten dinner in front of the tv. Plus, Billy would have been too distracted to hold a conversation (Steve hadn’t left his mind).

“Steve said I should come. He noticed I haven’t been speaking to a lot of people, and he said it might help to do an activity in a smaller group…” Max wasn’t looking at Billy as she explained.

“Anyway, I think he was right. He’s the best!” She beamed as she said it, finally looking up from her slowly but surely diminishing pile of pancakes.

“That’s good. I’m glad.”

Billy was glad, really. He was also a bit frustrated that Steve had managed to talk to Max about making friends, when Billy hadn’t known how to bring it up without offending her, but he wasn’t petty enough to show he had a problem with it. Even if Max calling Steve “the best” was treason of the highest order, Billy just wanted her to be happy. If Steve’s intervention helped more than Billy himself could, then so be it.

They finished breakfast, got ready for the day and then went grocery shopping. As they got back to the flat, Max went to her room to chill, and Billy read for a while before he started preparing lunch. Keeping busy distracted him from thinking about seeing Steve in the afternoon. Well, he didn’t think about it too much, at least.

-

When Billy made his way into the coffee shop, Steve and Robin were already seated, talking animatedly… in another language.

“Hi. Was that Italian?”

They must not have noticed him approaching, because as soon as he greeted them, they stopped talking, and Steve looked up at him like a deer caught in the headlights.

“Hey Billy”, Robin said, “as a matter of fact, it was.”

“Don’t you teach French and Spanish?”

Billy was perplexed.

“I do. Doesn’t mean I don’t speak Italian.”

“It figures”, Billy shrugged.

He wanted to ask Steve where he had learnt Italian, because it intrigued him. However, he chose not to. He didn’t want to talk to him unless it was necessary. It’d be better for everyone if they had the bare minimum of interactions together, surely.

“Are these new piercings?” Robin asked, gesturing toward his ears.

“Uh, no. I’ve had them for a long time. I just don’t wear them at school.”

“Well, you should. They look really cool, and I’m sure no one would have anything to say about it.”

Billy stared at Steve pointedly, but Steve looked away as soon as he caught his gaze.

“I’ll think about it.” Billy finally said.

Steve and Robin already had their orders, so Billy took his wallet from his bag and went to the counter. He glanced at the display case and eyed the cherry pie with envy, but decided against it. After this morning’s pancakes, it wouldn’t be reasonable. Plus, he hadn’t hit the gym in a few days. He had to start indulging less if he wanted to stay in shape. He went for a simple black coffee. As the burly man behind the counter, whom Billy guessed to be Benny, asked him if he wanted anything else, Billy nearly surrendered, but he powered through. He handed Benny a ten-dollar bill and put the change he was given in one of his pockets.

When Billy went back to their table with his cup of coffee, Steve was blowing on his cup of steaming hot tea. Billy’s eyes caught on the ‘o’ shape of Steve’s lips, which reminded him of his dream. He averted his eyes, praying to God he wasn’t blushing, now that he couldn’t hide it behind his tan anymore (screw Hawkins, Indiana).

As Billy sat down, he noticed Steve had a piece of the pie he’d been eyeing. Not fair. He nearly started pouting but caught himself. After all, his pie-less state was his own fault. Why did he have to be reasonable?

Billy took his pen and the essays he had to grade out of his backpack to give himself something to focus on. But then Steve started eating. And he moaned. Quite obscenely.

“Mh, this is so good. Benny is a magician. You guys want a bite?”

Billy really wanted to say yes, not only because he wanted pie, but because Steve was the one offering. It would have been weird, though? Right?

“No thanks” he ended up saying. What a hard thing to say.

Robin had no such qualms. She needn’t have, since she and Steve were actually friends. Not only did she get to experience Steve warmth and kindness, she also got a bite of his pie. Did she even know how lucky she was?

Billy got into his grading. And he was already past the no-pouting stage of the afternoon. It sucked to be him, sometimes.

“You should probably wait for Steve to finish eating… and drinking too, to be honest, before you put your students’ paper on the table. That man is a disaster.”

Billy had to admit Robin was right. He ate lunch with Steve on a regular basis, and had therefore seen him spill a bunch of things on himself. Thankfully, nothing he had ever spilled had reached Billy, so they were probably safe.

“Oh come on! We’re on opposite ends of the table.” Steve objected.

“I know, but I’m sure you’d find a way.”

Steve scoffed but didn’t try to argue his case any further. He looked adorably ruffled when Robin laughed at his expanse.

They didn’t say anything more for a while, as they were finally doing what they had come here to do. At some point, though, Robin brought up a point one of her students had made about the French translation of “Newspeak” in George Orwell’s 1984, which led her and Billy to launch a discussion about the novel.

Steve offered no input whatsoever, but he had stopped grading and had been staring at them for five minutes straight.

It was making Billy’s skin itch.

At some point, he couldn’t take it anymore and asked:

“What’s your opinion Steve?”

“Uh… I… I don’t really have one.” He stammered, caught off guard.

“How come?”

“I, uh, I haven’t actually read the book.”

“Oh. Well, you should. It’s an amazing book.”

Steve fidgeted with his red pen, repeatedly taking the cap off and then putting it back on.

“Uh… I don’t know about that. It’s not really my thing.”

“How can you know it’s not your thing if you haven’t read it?” Billy asked, a tad defensively.

“I didn’t mean the book… I meant, reading.”

Steve bit his lower lip.

“Why not? Is that beneath a math buff such as yourself, or something?” Billy’s tone had become hostile.

And, by pulling accusations out of his ass like that, he had gone from defensive to straight up aggressive.

“No. ‘course not… It’s just… reading is hard for me… I’m, uh… I’m dyslexic, so…” Steve trailed off, looking down at the pen he was seemingly holding in a vice grip.

Billy was speechless with shame and regret, as Steve offered a wobbly smile and said: “I’m gonna… go get some more tea”, before leaving the table.

Billy stared at his retreating form before he turned to Robin and found her glaring at him. If he could have felt worse than he already did, he would have.

“So… should I go apologize right now or should I leave him alone and apologize later?”

Teenage Billy would have probably not apologized at all, but present-time Billy knew better. He felt like the biggest jerk.

“I’d say, go for it.”

Billy followed Robin’s advice and, with knots in his stomach, he went to Steve, who was waiting for his tea behind the counter.

“Steve, man… I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay…” Steve said, but his eyes didn’t leave his own shoes.

That wouldn’t do. Billy had made Steve feel shitty, and he would make it better if it were the last thing he did.

“No, it’s not. I shouldn’t have pushed.”

Billy had let his frustration with Steve get the better of him, and that was unacceptable. Steve was not particularly nice to him, so what? It wasn’t a reason to be outright mean to the guy.

“Really, it’s no big deal… It’s not like it’s a secret… my dyslexia, I mean.”

“Yeah, but you obviously didn’t want to share this piece of info with me, and I should have dropped it.”

“I just… I was afraid you’d find me stupid… But you probably thought I was stupid already, anyway… what with me never having anything interesting to say when Robin and you talk about literature.”

“Hey, I don’t…”

Benny placed Steve’s cup of tea on the counter, cutting Billy mid-sentence.

“It’s on me”, Billy said, fishing his five-dollar bill of change out of his jean’s back pocket and handing it to Benny.

“You didn’t have to.”

Was Steve blushing or was it a trick of the light?

“I want to make it up to you.”

“There’s nothing to make up for, but thanks.”

Steve grabbed his cup of tea and was going to go back to their table, but Billy held him back.

“Wait… I want you to know I don’t find you stupid, okay? I know I’m kind of a jackass, but not enough of one to actually think dyslexic people are stupid.”

“Good to know”, Steve replied.

“So, are we good?”

“I told you, we are.” Steve assured, smiling brighter than he had ever smiled at Billy before.

The knots in Billy’s stomach loosened, and his heart filled with warmth. So that was how it felt, when Steve’s sunshine fell upon you? Billy couldn’t wait to experience that feeling again.

“We should get back to Robin.”

“We should” Billy echoed, before following Steve, awestruck.


	4. Chapter 3

Steve started behaving less awkwardly around Billy. It wasn’t anything obvious, but Billy noticed immediately, obsessed with Steve as he was. Steve sometimes spoke to him unprompted, which he never did before. He also smiled brighter than he used to when he saw Billy. Every time Steve’s eyes crinkled at the corners, Billy melted inside. 

One day, at the cafeteria, Billy thought the last slice of chocolate cake had escaped him again, but Maria produced a slice seemingly out of nowhere and handed it to Billy with a wink.

“I heard you have a sweet tooth”, she said.

Billy was puzzled but, not one to look at a gift horse in the mouth, he took the plate from Maria and thanked her with a charming smile.

He joined Heather, Robin and Steve at their usual table, sitting down in front of the latter. Steve lit up at his arrival, and Billy’s heart filled with warmth.

“I reckon I have you to thank for the cake.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Steve replied, pretending to be clueless.

Robin directed her attention from Heather to Steve long enough to say something to him in Italian, to which Steve replied quite curtly, also in Italian. Robin then rolled her eyes and went back to the conversation she was having with her girlfriend.

“You guys are rude.” Billy pouted.

He hated not understanding what was going on. He felt like he was missing out.

“Sorry… It was just Robin mocking me. Nothing new, she does that plenty in English already.” Steve said.

Billy wasn’t buying it, but he left it at that. He was not planning on antagonizing Steve, now that they finally interacted in a friendly manner.

“How come you speak Italian, by the way?”

“Uh… my mother’s from Italy?”

Billy frowned.

“Why did you make that sound like a question?”

Steve grimaced slightly.

“Yeah, that came out weird. Well, uh… my mother is Italian. It’s just that it’s not why I speak Italian, to be honest. My parents weren’t very present… but they still wanted me to be bilingual like my mom, so I was basically raised by Italian au pairs. Joke’s on them: instead of just sucking at one language, I suck at two… Sorry, I’m rambling.”

“Don’t say that shit about yourself. It’s pretty impressive that you speak two languages.”

“Oh… thanks.” Steve replied, blushing beet red.

“You’re welcome. I’m sorry you had shitty parents, though.”

Billy knew a lot about these, even though his father’s abuse was of a different kind.

“It is how it is.” Steve shrugged, but it clashed with his wistful expression. Then, he seemed to shake himself out of the feeling, and said:

“On a lighter note, Robin and Heather are coming to mine on Friday. We’re going to watch bad movies from the eighties and laugh at them. Would you like to come?”

Billy groaned, unable to hide his disappointment.

“I’d have loved to, but Fridays are movie nights with Max. That’s tradition.”

Soon, Max would make friends, and she’d spend many of her Friday nights going to parties or doing other teenager things that didn’t involve Billy, so he would take every occasion to spend time with her until she became “too cool” to hang out with her big brother.

“Oh… we can always reschedule.” Steve said.

“Yeah, we’re also free on Saturday, right Rob?” Heather interjected.

“Sure thing.”

“You don’t have to change your plans on my account.” Billy replied, all the while hoping they would do exactly that. 

“I want to, though. And I’m sure the girls don’t mind.”

“Not at all.” Robin assured, while Heather nodded in agreement.

“If you’re sure…”

“It is decided.” Steve announced.

“Great, then.”

Billy had plans with his coworkers for the second Saturday in a row, and, while he had dreaded it the first time, now he couldn’t wait for the weekend to come.

-

On Friday night, Max kept fidgeting on the couch and didn’t seem to pay attention to what was happening on the screen of their TV. Billy, annoyed that she wouldn’t stop moving, hit pause and said:

“Out with it.”

“With what?”

“Come on, don’t play dumb. You have something to ask, I can tell.”

Max huffed but relented a second later:

“I was wondering if I could have a sleepover at a friend’s house tomorrow… since you have plans of your own.”

Billy frowned.

“What friend?”

If it were sweet little El, he doubted Max would have been so hesitant to broach the topic with him.

“Lucas Sinclair.” Max’s mumbling was nearly unintelligible, but Billy understood it all too well.

“No way.” He protested.

“Why not?”

“Because.”

Granted, it wasn’t the best argument. Billy didn’t feel like explaining his reasons, though. If he did, Max would be outraged, proclaiming Billy didn’t trust her, when it was in fact teenage boys he didn’t trust… even if the teenage boy in question seemed to be an inoffensive nerd. Sometimes, the ones who looked the sweetest were in fact the worst.

“Is it because he’s black?”

Billy gaped. He couldn’t believe she would ask that.

“Fuck you, Max. Who do you think I am? Neil?”

“Well, you’re sure acting the way he would.”

And Billy had thought the previous question was bad… Never mind, she had outdone herself with that cheap shot. 

“Go to your room.” Billy told her, trying to keep his tone neutral.

“But…”

“Just go, Maxine.”

She must have understood he wasn’t playing around, because he had used her full name or because she had heard the hurt he had tried to conceal in his voice. She probably wasn’t able to see Billy’s eyes shine with unshed tears, in the low light of the TV. Whatever it was that had cued her in, remorse flashed across her face. However, she mercifully didn’t try to apologize and just retreated to her bedroom, dragging her feet slightly.

As soon as her door closed behind her, Billy let the tears fall. He angrily wiped them away before they could roll all the way down his cheeks.

He knew Max had certainly not meant what she had said, but it hadn’t made the words hurt any less. She knew Neil was a sore subject, and she had seized the opportunity to hit right where it would be the most painful.

And painful it had been.

Maybe he should have agreed to go to Steve’s on Friday. He would have had to cancel movie night with Max, but considering how that had turned out it would have been a blessing in disguise.

He sighed and turned the TV off. He wasn’t in the mood to watch the end of the movie anymore.

-

When he got up the next morning, Max was not in the flat. He found a post-it not on the kitchen table. It said she was spending the day with El and might stay the night at her house. 

Great, she wasn’t even asking.

To look at the bright side, at least they wouldn’t have to try avoiding each other all day in a two-bedroom flat. That would have been awkward.

And, if she weren’t lying, Billy was glad. He was sure El would be good for Max. And El’s guardian was someone he knew to be trustworthy, so he didn’t mind Max spending time at the Hoppers’, whereas he was always uncomfortable letting her have sleepovers with friends whose parents he had never met before.

Billy went for a run in the woods and nearly got lost. It wasn’t exactly his fault: there were trees all around this town and they made everything look the same.

He bought takeaway before he came home, famished as he was after taking hours to find his way back.

After lunch he did some grading and some lesson planning for the week to come. Then, he decided to bake something so he wouldn’t arrive empty handed at Steve’s place.

He hesitated on what to make but finally decided chocolate chip cookies would be the best option. They were a classic, which meant that most people liked them, and that Billy had all the ingredients on hand to make them. You couldn’t go wrong with good old chocolate chip cookies. At least, he hoped so.

Once he took the cookies out of the oven, he was left with enough spare time to let them cool slightly before he put them in a tin box.

Before leaving the flat, he called Max to ask her if she would indeed spend the night at El’s. He would spend the whole evening worrying if he didn’t.

She replied that she would, and then mumbled that she was sorry about what she had said the night before. Billy didn’t acknowledge the apology. He only said: “see you tomorrow” and hung up.

He would forgive Max, of course he would. But she had really upset him, so he wanted to hold onto his grudge for a little while.

He made it to Steve’s place a bit too early, having miscalculated how much time it would take him to get there (which was stupid because Steve lived near Hawkins High, ie the place Billy went to and from every day of the week). He wasn’t the math teacher out of the two of them, and it showed.

He debated on waiting in his car until it was time to show up, but decided against it.

He regretted that decision when Steve opened his front door. He didn’t regret it entirely, though: Billy had obviously caught Steve off guard by arriving before the agreed time, and this resulted in Steve looking both thoroughly unprepared and unfairly gorgeous. He was wearing basketball shorts and a Hawkins High T-Shirt so worn it was basically see-through, his feet were bare, his hair was messy, strands of it going in every direction, and…

“Since when do you wear glasses?”

The glasses made Steve’s beautiful eyes less visible, which was a tragedy. But they made Steve look extra sweet, and soft, so Billy was torn.

Steve blinked at Billy.

“Uh… hi.”

“Yeah, hi… sorry.”

“To answer your question, I’ve had glasses for a long time, but I usually wear contacts.”

“I see…”

“Well I don’t, that’s why I need them.” Steve replied with a wink.

Billy couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“Wow, that was bad.”

“What can I say? I love lame dad jokes.” Steve beamed, apparently not offended one bit.

Billy could bring himself to love lame dad jokes too, if Steve were the one making them.

“Where are my manners? Come in…” Steve ushered Billy inside and closed the door behind him.

Billy looked around as discreetly as he could. He didn’t want to seem rude, but he was curious. The first things he noticed were that Steve’s flat looked homely, and that there were many paintings hanging on the walls.

“Sorry, I’m a mess.”

“I should be the one apologizing for being early”, Billy said, instead of what he really wanted to say: that Steve wasn’t a mess, or rather that he was but pulled it off like no one else could.

“Nah, you’re fine. You can put your jacket and stuff wherever”, Steve said, making a vague gesture.

“Thanks… Oh, I made cookies”, Billy said, taking the box out of his backpack and handing it to Steve.

“Really? You’re better than fine, then. Thank you so much.”

Steve’s expression radiated joy, and Billy swore he would make all the baked goods in the world just to get this reaction out of Steve.

“I was going to take a shower, but I can wait for Heather and Robin to arrive…”

“No, it’s fine, do your thing”, Billy assured.

“Okay. I’ll make it quick. Make yourself at home.”

Steve then disappeared to what Billy assumed to be the bathroom.

Billy took off his shoes and jacket and went around the flat, looking attentively at the various paintings. Most were figurative, but there were also a few abstract pieces. They had common characteristics though: the bright colors and the fact that they were very aesthetically pleasing, each in their own way.

It felt as if no time had passed at all when Steve emerged from the bathroom, with his hair wet from the shower, in black sweatpants and a comfy-looking purple hoodie. He looked cozy and extra huggable. Billy wanted to cuddle him.

“These paintings are beautiful.” Billy said, trying to push his longing to the back of his mind.

Steve blushed and cleared his throat.

“Thank you…”

Billy’s eyes widened.

“Wait… did you paint these?”

“Uh, I did.”

Steve passed a hand in his damp hair, making it stand on end.

“Wow, you’re really talented.”

Steve let out a nervous laugh.

“Flattery will get you everywhere.”

Billy was going to assure he was being completely sincere, but he was interrupted by a knock on the door. Robin and Heather came in a few seconds later, bringing pizza with them.

Billy was glad he had run and then walked for hours earlier that day, because his metabolism wouldn’t have taken kindly to takeout, pizza, and cookies in the same day if he hadn’t. It was still unbalanced in the health department, but Billy could survive eating junk for a day.

They ate the pizza in the kitchen, chatting in between bites, and then moved to the living room with the cookies and two bowls of popcorn.

Heather and Robin cuddled on one of the loveseats, which left the other one to Steve and Billy. They sat a respectable distance apart, no matter how hard Billy wanted to drape himself over Steve and find out if his sweater was as soft as it looked.

After the end of the first hilariously bad movie, Steve announced he was going to make hot cocoa, and came back a few minutes later with four steaming mugs, a pack of mini marshmallows, and a can of whipped cream on a tray.

“We shouldn’t ever let you carry so much stuff by yourself.” Robin said.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it.”

“Oh, I worry”, she replied, as Steve put the tray down on the coffee table.

There was a little spillage, but nothing catastrophic.

Billy couldn’t help but notice that Steve sat down a little closer to him this time around. He could feel the heat of him against his side.

They started the second movie, waiting for the hot chocolate to cool down slightly.

Steve ended up reaching out for his mug at the wrong moment: Billy, who had been more focused on Steve than on the TV since Steve had come back from the kitchen, startled badly when a loud noise came from the sound system. He inadvertently elbowed Steve in the process, causing the content of his mug to spill over and cover both Steve’s sweatshirt and Billy’s Henley.

“Shit, Billy, I’m so sorry”, Steve apologized immediately, as if it were in any way his fault.

“Oh look, Steve spilt something. How shocking.”

“Technically, babe, it’s Billy’s fault this time. He knocked into Steve’s arm. Sorry for throwing you under the bus here, Billy”, Heather rectified.

“Well, you’re not exactly wrong.”

“Come with me Billy, I’ll find you something to wear and we can put your shirt in the wash.”

Billy was going to tell Steve he didn’t have to, but Steve had already paused the movie and was up and walking a second later.

He followed him to a walk-in closet in his bedroom and took the crew-neck sweater Steve handed him.

“It should fit.”

Billy took his shirt off then and there, and stuck the bottom of it in the waistband of his jean so he had both of his hands free to put the sweater on.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Steve whispered.

Billy looked up, still half-naked. Steve’s eyes were fixed on his bare chest, and more precisely on his nipple rings.

He snapped out of it, certainly when he noticed Billy had stopped moving.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.” Steve grimaced.

Billy was confused. Was this a bad reaction? Considering how Steve had reacted to his tattoos when they had met, it probably was. But Steve seemed pretty laid back, now that Billy knew him a little better, so he didn’t know what his deal was with Billy’s looks.

“Yeah… uh. It’s fine, I guess? I get that they’re not for everyone.”

“Oh… no… I didn’t mean that in a bad way… I, uh, I actually think they look insanely cool.”

Steve’s cheeks were now the color of a firetruck, and Billy could not resist teasing him a little.

“Oh, do you, now?” He asked, smiling his most seductive smile.

Steve opened his mouth a few times, seemingly at a loss. Sadly, he was rescued by Heather yelling from the living-room:

“Did you guys find Narnia or something?”

“We’ll be back in a sec!” Steve yelled back. “Can you pass me your shirt, please… I’ll, uh, take care of it and let you get dressed.”

He held out his hand, looking everywhere but at Billy.

Perhaps Billy should have refrained from teasing him. He hoped he had not made things awkward again.

He put his shirt in Steve’s hand and put the sweater on as Steve left the room. Its material was warm, and soft, and smelt just like Steve. Billy inhaled deeply.

He got back to the living room, pointedly not looking at anything in Steve’s bedroom before exiting it, just as he hadn’t looked at anything when he came in with Steve. If he did, it would then be too easy to imagine himself in it, in Steve’s bed.

Steve sat back on the couch right after Billy did. The physical distance was back at what it had been in the beginning. Billy tried not to read too much into it, but it worried him nonetheless.

“Fucking finally”, Heather said, as Robin hit the play button on the remote. 

Billy couldn’t concentrate at all for the rest of the movie.


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you to everyone who left kudos and comments so far <3 
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy this chapter ;)

On Sunday morning, Max came back home right on time for lunch. Billy and she greeted each other, and then proceeded not to say anything for the whole duration of the meal.

Max took care of clearing the table before Billy could even think of getting up. She did the washing up in silence. Billy’s leg started bouncing. He couldn’t take it anymore, but he refused to take the first step. Max was in the wrong, so he would wait for her to make amends.

“I got you something”, She mumbled, drying her hands on the dishtowel after she was done wiping the plates and cutlery.

She fished a little box out of the pocket of her hoodie and put it in front of Billy on the kitchen table.

“I’m not trying to bribe you into forgiving me or anything… I just saw this while shopping with El and thought you might like it.”

She crossed her arms over her chest.

Billy reached for the tiny box and opened it delicately, as if he were holding Max’s apology in the palm of his hand. In it was a gold-colored dangly earring in the shape of a dagger.

“It looks pretty badass.” Billy admitted.

He took one of the earrings he was currently wearing out and put the new one in. Max relaxed a fraction, at that, and said:

“I’m really sorry about Friday night… I was way out of line. And I didn’t mean it…”

She uncrossed her arms and started fidgeting with her hoodie string, rolling it around her finger and then unrolling it.

Billy didn’t know what to say to that. For all he had wanted Max to apologize to him, he had no idea how to act now that she had. Generally, when they bickered or fought, they just ignored each other for a while and waited for the mutual anger to die down. Apologies were almost never involved. But it was different, this time. Because Max had gone too far.

“I know you didn’t… But you can’t just go around saying stuff like that every time you don’t get your way. So what? Every time I’ll say no to something, you’ll just call me Neil?” Billy replied, struggling to get his father’s name out.

“No! I won’t say anything like that ever again, I swear! I just… I had a really shitty week…”

“I’m sorry about that, but it doesn’t excuse hurting people.”

Billy winced at his own phrasing. It was no secret to Max that she had hurt him, he didn’t have to verbally express it.

“I know, but… I’m just trying to say that I was mean for no valid reason and I’ll try to handle it better next time.”

Max pulled on one end of her hoodie string, and then pulled on the other end to put the string back in place.

“You might try handling it by actually telling me what’s wrong. Just saying.”

“I guess… I don’t think you’d want to hear about boys trouble and shit, though.”

Billy wanted to either tell Max she had no business having boys trouble at fifteen years old, or to put his hands over his ears and pretend he couldn’t hear her. However, none of these options would have been very productive, or mature.

“I mean… it’d be awkward, for sure… but I can still listen.”

Max kept silent for about three seconds before she spilt everything that had happened to her during the week. And it was quite a lot.

Apparently, after befriending El, she had started hanging out with Will Byers, who was also going to Art club. Then, she met El and Will’s other friends: first Lucas Sinclair, then Dustin Henderson, and finally Mike Wheeler. She got along well enough with Lucas and Dustin, even though she suspected they both had a crush on her, which was awkward because none of these crushes were reciprocated (thank God). But the real problem was the Wheeler kid, who apparently didn’t want to include Max in their merry band of nerds (that was not how Max had called their group, but that was what it was, so Billy was taking the artistic license to call it that in his head). She had nonetheless been invited to play D&D with them at Lucas’ house on Saturday night, and had hoped she could win Mike over during the game, but then Billy had denied her the permission to go. Fortunately, Hopper had done the same with El, so Max had been able to spend the night at their house. Billy had to remember to thank Hopper the next time he saw him.

For now, he mainly wanted to insult Mike Wheeler’s intelligence for his unwillingness to be Max’s friend, but the little gremlin was one of his students, so it wouldn’t have been very professional. Therefore, he opted to address another topic:

“You could have told me Lucas was not your boyfriend. Your request for a sleepover kinda gave me the wrong idea, there.”

He tried not to grimace as he said it, but the result was not conclusive. This conversation was every bit as uncomfortable as he had anticipated it to be.

“Well, rest assured that nothing like that is gonna happen.”

After a brief pause, Max asked:

“Does it mean you’ll let me go next time there’s a D&D meeting?”

“I’ll think about it, but full disclosure: that’s doubtful. I don’t trust these little nerds.”

Well, maybe the Byers kid could be trusted. He seemed sweet enough, and his mother was a gift to this earth, so if he took after her everything would be fine. Billy wouldn’t share that with Max just yet, though. If he gave an inch she’d ask for a mile.

“Also, why you’d ever want to play D&D is beyond me” Billy quipped.

“I beg your pardon? It’s a very interesting game.”

“Interesting is a way of putting it, for sure.”

“Shut up.” Max mumbled.

Billy laughed at her.

-

Things went a lot smoother with Max after that. Billy was less hesitant to ask her about what was going on at school and with her new friends, even if it meant he had to refrain from glaring at Mike Wheeler every time he had him in class or when he passed him in the hallway.

Billy had other problems, however. Steve-shaped problems.

Steve had reverted to being awkward around him in less time than it had taken Billy to start hoping they might be going somewhere in the friendship department.

Billy even suspected Steve was avoiding him. He didn’t come to the cafeteria every day anymore. Every time Billy stumbled upon him talking to Heather or Robin, Steve had an excuse at the ready to flee the scene. At some point, Billy had overheard Robin and Steve argue in Italian (it was becoming a habit of theirs, apparently), and he was almost certain his name had been said.

Billy made it a point to wait for Max after every session of Art club, even though she had got her new skateboard by now. With the days getting shorter and the weather colder, he preferred she didn’t skate back home, anyway. The fact that it allowed him to see Steve was a bonus. He would try to reach out to Steve and would watch him stammer his way out of the conversation, with whatever bullshit excuse he had found to go home as fast as possible.

It was painful, but Billy couldn’t bring himself to stop trying. He simply wanted to understand… Okay, that wasn’t totally accurate: he wanted to understand and to solve whatever problem Steve had with him so they could finally be friends… for more than a week, this time. He would have loved being more than friends, of course, but he’d settle for a strictly platonic relationship, at this stage.

-

On the last Saturday of November, Billy was supposed to grade some papers at Benny’s with Robin’s. They did that regularly since the first time, but Steve came along less and less often.

So, when he arrived at Benny’s and found Steve but not Robin, he was suspicious. When he received a text stating Robin couldn’t make it because she had a “killer headache”, Billy was downright disbelieving.

Robin always arrived early to their meetings, so she was always the first one there. If she had decided not to come because she wasn’t feeling well, she’d have warned them about it at least twenty minutes ago, not now that both Steve and Billy were already in the coffee shop.

Billy sighed, ordered a coffee and a cinnamon roll, to give himself courage, and then went to the table Steve had chosen.

Steve was checking his phone when Billy sat down in front of him, and his face fell.

“So… I guess it’s just the two of us.”

Billy was stating the obvious.

An awkward silence would settle. It was unavoidable. But Billy was trying to put it off for a while.

“I guess…”

Okay, Steve was not helping to stave the awkwardness off. It was a lost cause.

Billy sighed for the second time in less than five minutes and went straight to work, the best distraction he had on hand. He had given his Freshmen class a creative writing assignment, and he was eager to find out what they had come up with.

It went fine for a while. Uneventful. But, when he reached Will Byers’ paper, Billy realized reading it in public was a big mistake. He couldn’t stop, though. He was both horrified and unable to tear his quickly watering eyes from the heartbreaking words.

Will’s paper was about an abusive father, and it hit far too close to home for Billy. In addition to the bad memories it dragged up, Will’s writing concerned Billy. It seemed all too familiar and realistic to be coming from anything other than direct experience. Not to say that you couldn’t convincingly write about something you didn’t personally know, but Will was only fifteen and hadn’t seemed particularly invested in writing assignments before then. From what Max had told Billy, Will preferred to express himself though drawing. Hence the Art club.

Joyce was divorced, Billy knew that much. Hopefully, it meant Will didn’t see his father anymore, if the man in question was indeed abusive. It only made Billy feel marginally better, though. Your abuser being out of your life didn’t magically make everything rainbows and butterflies.

All these thoughts were racing in his mind, while his body had gone unnaturally still. He was sitting stiffly in his chair, his hands clenched on the piece of paper they were holding, crumpling it beyond repair.

“Billy, are you okay?”

Billy finally looked up, catching Steve’s worried gaze. Only then did he realize he’d started crying. He stood up immediately, not even taking the time to wipe his tears away.

“I’ll be back in a sec”, he croaked, not answering Steve’s question, before he rushed to the bathroom.

Barely two seconds passed before Steve barged in.

Billy had locked himself into one of the cubicles, but he could still tell it was Steve. He recognized his shoes.

Anyway, Steve didn’t wait long to make himself known.

He knocked lightly on the door of the cubicle.

“Billy, what’s wrong?”

Billy was physically unable to answer. If he opened his mouth, the sobs he was fighting to keep trapped inside would break free.

“Please… can you at least open the door. I’m really worried.”

Great. Steve had been ignoring him for weeks, and now he wouldn’t leave him alone… at the only occasion Billy would have wanted him to. Perfect timing.

He reluctantly did as he was told. Steve already knew he was crying, anyway: there wasn’t much pretense to keep.

Steve entered the cubicle and closed the door behind him, effectively entering Billy’s bubble while allowing him to stay sheltered from the rest of the world.

It was a tight fit. So much so that there was barely an inch of space between their two bodies. Being so exposed made it harder for Billy to hold his emotions at bay. When Steve asked him what happened, he broke down completely. He barely had time to hide his face in his hands before his whole body was wrecked by sobs.

“Fuck…” Steve cursed, “I d-don’t know what to do… Can I hug you?”

“I’ll mess up your shirt.” Billy said in between shaky inhales.

“I don’t give a shit.”

Steve put his right arm over Billy’s shoulder and the left around his waist, pressing him against his chest. When Billy finally took his hands away from his face, Steve’s right hand cupped the back of Billy’s head and guided it until it was resting on Steve’s shoulder. Steve then kept his hand there, twining his fingers in Billy’s hair.

In this all-encompassing embrace, surrounded by Steve’s comforting scent, Billy’s legs nearly gave out. Billy had an inkling Steve would have gladly supported his weight if they had. It was so easy to forget how weird Steve had acted around Billy lately. It wasn’t as easy to forget about what Will had written, however.

He didn’t know how long he stayed in Steve’s arms, crying his heart out in the fucking bathroom of all places, but when he finally stopped, his eyes were burning and Steve’s shirt was indeed messed up.

“I… uh… sorry about all of that”, Billy said, in reference to the shirt as well as his unbecoming outburst.

“Hey… don’t apologize. Do you want to talk about it?” 

“Uh… yeah… we should probably get out of the bathroom, though.”

“Right… We could go outside? Get some fresh air while we talk?”

Billy nodded and they took their jackets, leaving everything else there, before exiting the coffee shop.

Billy didn’t say anything for a while. Steve waited quietly, not rushing him.

After he had finally explained, Steve whispered a curse and then said:

“We should probably tell Joyce. She’d know what to do.”

It didn’t sit well with Billy to disclose Will’s identity without his permission, but maybe Steve knew something about the hypothetical abusive father. After all, he did seem close to Joyce.

“Uh… well… In fact, Will is the one who wrote the paper”, he informed.

“Oh, I see…”

Steve paused, looking down.

“You were right about it being based on reality: Will’s father is a piece of shit. Thankfully, he’s out of the picture now. Has been for a few years.”

Billy was relieved that the abuse wasn’t taking place anymore, but having his suspicion confirmed made him nauseous.

“I… I’ll talk to Will next week, anyway.”

“Yeah, it might be a good idea”, Steve acquiesced.

They stayed immobile for a while. Kept quiet. Didn’t look at each other.

By the time they reentered the coffee shop, it was dark outside.


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos and comments <3 these make my day :D

Billy meant to talk to Will at the end of their next class. But, when Billy called his name as he quickly walked by the teacher’s desk, Will ignored him and hurried out the door.

He had no other choice but to ask Joyce about the situation, then. Bypassing Will didn’t sit well with Billy, but he had tried. There wasn’t much else that he could do to make sure everything was alright at home.

So, after his last class of the day, he went to Joyce’s office and knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

He hesitated a second and entered.

Joyce smiled at him.

“Billy, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

He had to make a conscious effort not to wince. Considering what he had come to talk about, it wouldn’t be a pleasure for Joyce much longer.

“I… uh… I wanted to ask you something, about Will.”

Her face fell.

“Oh.”

She gestured to the two chairs in front of her desk and Billy sat down on the left.

“Thing is… I gave Will’s class a creative writing assignment, and Will chose to write about child abuse… so I just wanted to make sure he was okay”, Billy explained.

Joyce gave Billy a half-smile.

“Will is fine… well, as much as he can be, given the circumstances. My ex-husband is far from being the nicest man… But he’ll never harm my children again.”

Joyce spoke in a firm voice, leaving no room for doubt.

“Good…”

“I’m surprised Will wrote about it… he never mentions his father at home. I’m glad he felt he could open up.”

“Oh… well… I’m not sure he was that comfortable about telling me. When I tried to discuss his paper with him, he fled the classroom before I could even bring it up. That’s why I thought I’d ask you.”

Joyce looked straight into Billy’s eyes, making him feel exposed.

“Will is a bit shy, but believe me: he trusts you, else he would have chosen another topic.”

For the first time since he had started teaching, Billy got the impression he was deserving of his job. He had to be doing something right, if Will trusted him. Or maybe Will simply had seen something in Billy… maybe he had instinctively known Billy would understand him.

Either way, he had helped Will in a way, and it made every effort Billy had made to become a teacher worth it.

“Could you… could you tell Will he can talk to me about it any time, if he needs?”

Maybe talking to someone who knew what he went through could help Will.

“Of course, I’ll let him know. Thank you, Billy.”

Joyce smiled warmly.

Billy smiled back, even though he was a bit shaky. It hadn’t been an easy conversation for him.

Once he was back home, he listened to Max talk about her day. He didn’t say a word, opting to nod or hum in the right places instead of offering any input.

-

The following day, Billy ate lunch with Steve, Robin and Heather, and didn’t mention his talk with Joyce. He was a little embarrassed for crying all over Steve. In addition, he didn’t particularly want Robin and Heather to know about the incident.

Thankfully, Steve didn’t bring it up either, even though he kept throwing Billy cautious glances.

Heather was letting them know how one of the Seniors had broken his ankle during one of her classes, when Steve’s phone started vibrated on the table.

It was an unregistered number, but Steve apparently knew whom it belonged to.

“I’ve gotta take this, I’ll be right back.”

He grabbed his phone and hurried out the cafeteria.

He came back a few minutes later, chewing on his bottom lip and holding his phone so tightly his knuckled had turned white.

“Everything alright?” Robin asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Oh… yeah. Peachy.” Steve said, smiling too widely for it to seem natural.

“I tuoi genitori?”

“Si.”

Robin winced.

What the hell was that about?

Billy really wanted to ask Steve, but Steve obviously didn’t feel like sharing, so he respected his wishes.

A few days later, though, Billy couldn’t take it anymore. Steve wasn’t smiling anymore, he had bags under his eyes, his shoulders were sagging. In other words: his light had dimmed, and whatever piece of news he had got during that fateful phone call was most certainly responsible. Steve had been visibly miserable ever since he had hung up on whoever had been calling.

And Billy was determined to get to the bottom of this.

He couldn’t help Steve get his spark back if he didn’t know exactly why he had lost it in the first place, so he would do all he could to find out.

At the end of the first parent-teacher night of the year, as Billy and Steve were leaving the school, exhausted by hours of conference, Billy found the perfect occasion to talk to Steve alone. Or, rather, the perfect occasion was offered to him when he noticed Steve was planning on biking home. Even though it was late. And snowing.

“You’re gonna bike in this weather? In the dark?”

“Uh… yeah? It’s no big deal… I live close by, remember?”

“It’s still dangerous though, why didn’t you take your car for once? You know these parent-teacher meetings go on forever.”

It was Billy’s first year as a teacher, and even he knew that.

“My car broke down a while ago…”

“How long is a ‘while ago’?”

“I don’t know… a few weeks, I guess.”

“Seriously, Steve?” Billy sounded outraged.

He kind of was.

“I know… I keep meaning to get in touch with a mechanic, but I’m kind of afraid the repair is going to cost me a month of salary, or more… so I’ve been putting it off.”

“Why didn’t you say something? I could help you out, I know a few things about cars.”

It might have been a slight understatement. Billy had worked as a mechanic to get himself through college, so he knew more than “a few things”.

“Really? You wouldn’t mind?”

“I wouldn’t have offered to help if I didn’t want you… want to. If I didn’t want to!”

Billy couldn’t believe he had slipped up in such a telling manner.

Steve stared at him unblinkingly.

“I could come take a look at it right now, if you’d like. I’ll give you a ride home while I’m at it.” Billy continued, as if he hadn’t just tremendously embarrassed himself.

“Isn’t Max waiting for you at home?”

“No, she’s at the Byers’ with El, tonight.”

Billy had agreed to let her have a sleepover at a boy’s house, but only because the boy was Will and because he knew Joyce was going to keep an eye on them.

“Okay… Thank you so much.”

“Don’t thank me just yet. Maybe I won’t be able to do anything.”

“It’s the thought that counts.”

It turned out that Billy was able to fix the problem, and in just a few minutes too.

“You’re my hero!” Steve exclaimed, as Billy closed the hood.

Billy prayed he wasn’t blushing. He had ridiculed himself enough for the day.

“You’re giving me too much credit. It was nothing major.”

He had the urge to pass a hand in his hair, but his hands were black with grease.

“Still… I don’t know shit about cars, so you did save my ass. Can I make you dinner? As a thank you?”

“You really don’t have to.”

Steve didn’t even grant Billy’s protest an answer, and simply dragged him upstairs to his flat. He then told him to go wash his hands in the bathroom while he started cooking.

Once he was in the bathroom, even though he didn’t mean to snoop, Billy couldn’t help but notice the bottle of fancy organic shampoo. And if he also uncapped the said bottle and brought it to his nose so he could get a whiff of Steve’s comforting scent, well it wasn’t a crime… was it?

When Billy got to the kitchen, he heard Steve hum a song he didn’t know. His mood seemed a lot brighter than it had been in the last few days, but it didn’t deter Billy from asking about the phone call. However, he would wait for dinner to be ready before broaching the topic. He didn’t want to disturb Steve while he was focusing on his task… whatever that task was.

“What are you making?”

“Pasta al pesto. That okay?”

“Of course. Sounds great. Want me to help with something?”

“You’ve helped enough already.”

Steve smiled at him. Oh, how Billy had missed this smile! An eternity seemed to have passed since the last time he’d been graced with it.

And Billy quickly realized he had played himself. The more Steve appeared happy, the less Billy felt like ruining his newly recovered good mood.

By the time they both sat down at the table and started eating, Billy had decided not to bring up anything that could possibly be upsetting.

He complimented Steve on the delicious food and then asked what his plans for the weekend were. He thought it was a safe topic. He was very wrong.

Steve’s face fell.

“I… uh… My parents are going to be in town for a few days… So, I’ll probably spend some time with them.”

“Oh”, was all Billy could say to that, at first.

The author of the call had probably been either Steve’s mother or his father. The mystery was solved, but not the problem. 

Billy watched Steve slowly twirl spaghetti around his fork. He was apparently not planning on bringing the fork to his mouth anytime soon.

“I reckon you’re not looking forward to it?”

“It’s that obvious, uh?”

Billy shrugged.

“I’m sorry…”

“What the fuck are you sorry for?” he asked, genuinely confused.

“I didn’t want to burden you with that… that’s why I didn’t say anything in the first place.”

“What do you mean ‘burden me’?”

Billy wouldn’t have been burdened at all. In fact, he would have been unburdened, worried as he had been about Steve.

“Well, I… I don’t have a right to complain to you about shitty parents… I’m pretty sure I had it good compared to you… They never hit me, or anything.”

Billy opened his mouth without knowing what he was going to reply. Steve spoke again before he could get a word in edgewise:

“Was that rude? I don’t mean to assume or anything… It’s just… Will’s paper seemed to hit you particularly hard… and what with you being your sister’s guardian… I thought… maybe… maybe you- ”

“You were right” Billy interrupted, ending Steve’s struggle to finish his sentence.

Steve grimaced.

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing.”

“Sorry… I mean, okay.”

Billy sighed.

“And, just so we’re clear, you can complain about your parents as much as you want to, Steve. And yeah, maybe they didn’t hit you, but not hitting your kid isn’t enough to qualify as a good parent.”

“But…”

“No but. So… Are you going to talk about it, or?” Billy asked, waiting for Steve to make up his mind.

“Okay… so… where to start? As I already mentioned, my parents were barely ever there while I was growing up. But… every time they’d remember my existence and come home, they expected me to drop everything for them. It’s still the same now that I’m an adult and have my own life.”

Steve was getting more and more agitated, making hand gestures as he spoke.

“And I wouldn’t mind all that much if the moments I spent with them were enjoyable... but it’s just going to be my mother pretending everything is fine while my father criticizes each and every one of my life choices.”

He scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“Which is fucked up, by the way, because I didn’t even make my choices freely. The sole reason I didn’t major in art is that he made a barely veiled threat to stop paying for my tuition if I did. I had to go for math, just because it was the only ‘serious’ subject I didn’t suck at. He had to put up with me wanting to become a teacher instead of working at his company… He was not going to tolerate that I teach ‘a second-zone subject’.”

He passed a hand through his hair, and then deflated with a long-suffering sigh.

“Sorry, that’s a lot.”

“What did I say about apologizing?”

“Force of habit.”

Considering what Steve had just told him, Billy had an inkling Harrington senior had something to do with his son’s propension to apologize for existing.

“Your father sucks. Welcome to the club.”

Steve laughed nervously.

“Thanks, I guess.”

He got up from his chair and opened one of the kitchen cabinets.

“What would you say about some wine?” He asked, brandishing a bottle.

“I wouldn’t say no.”

Steve took out two glasses and uncorked the bottle before pouring the wine in a swift motion.

They moved to the living room with their glass and the rest of the bottle soon after that, even though Steve had not finished his food. He had probably lost his appetite, and Billy couldn’t blame him for it.

They sat sideways on the loveseat, facing each other, and sipped their wine for a while, in comfortable silence.

“Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“Why don’t you tell your parents to fuck off?”

“Oh, believe me, I’d love to. But I’m not brave enough. When my father’s here, it’s like I’m a little kid again.”

Steve downs what is left in his glass and pours himself some more wine.

“Refill?”

“I shouldn’t, I’m driving.”

“You could sleep here… since Max is having a sleepover.”

Billy couldn’t have declined Steve’s invitation if he had tried.

It was already late, and the wine Steve had been drinking made his lips glossy and even more inviting than usual. Billy’s eyes were attracted to them like a magnet to metal. He would only have to lean forward a few inches to place his lips on Steve’s. It was an awful idea, though. Everything was finally going well between them, so Billy wanted to steer clear of anything that could ruin that by bringing the awkwardness back.

“Okay. Thanks.” 

Steve refilled Billy’s glass.

“Why don’t you tell them to fuck off by text then?”

From what Steve had told him, Billy thought he didn’t owe his parents anything.

“Maybe I could… I feel like it’s just going to cause drama, though… I’ll just have to handle them for a few days. It won’t be that bad, I suppose… even though I’m kind of dreading the yearly conversation concerning where I will be spending Christmas.”

“And where will you be spending Christmas?”

“Anywhere that isn’t my uncle’s house, where my parents will insist I go, as they do every year.”

Steve rolled his eyes.

Billy had to refrain himself from inviting Steve to spend Christmas with Max and him. First of all, he had to run it by Max before he asked, and second, he feared Steve would find it weird. Billy would wait a little. Maybe Steve would find somewhere else to spend the holidays.

“I gather your uncle isn’t any better than your folks?” He asked, instead.

Steve laughed without humor.

“He’s even worse. He always manages to say racist or homophobic shit… or both… so…”

Billy, who was well-versed in racist homophobic assholes, grimaced sympathetically.

“Anyway, enough about me. Feel free to diss your own father, if you want.”

“Maybe another time…” Billy said.

He ended up telling Steve about the conversation he had with Joyce regarding Will: a somewhat safer subject, since it didn’t directly involve Billy.

And then they talked about Robin and Heather, whose first-year anniversary was only a few days away, and then Steve talked about an art exhibition he would love seeing in Indianapolis. He looked so excited about it, it put a smile on Billy’s face. 

As they chatted, they drank some more wine, until the bottle was empty. By then, they were both slouched in the loveseat, and Billy was so sleepy he could barely keep his eyes open.

He woke up early in the morning, alone, with a soft blanket over him.


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys :) this chapter is a bit longer than the previous ones. I hope you'll like it ;)

It was the last week of class before the Christmas holidays, and Steve entered the teachers’ lounge on Monday morning, looking like he wouldn’t make it through the day, let alone the entire week.

“How did your weekend go, Stevie?” Heather asked.

Steve groaned in reply.

“That bad, uh?” Billy, extending the cup of coffee he had just poured himself to Steve.

He seemed to be needing it more than Billy did.

“Thank you”, Steve’s tone made it sound like he was thanking Billy for saving his life, “Yeah, that bad. My parents are pestering me about Christmas even worse than usual. It’s like ‘you have no plans anyway, you might as well come with us’.”

Billy made an effort not to laugh when Steve imitated what he assumed to be his mother’s voice, speaking in a ridiculously high pitch.

“I’m sorry Robin is abandoning you because of me, this year.” Heather apologized.

Robin was spending Christmas at Heather’s parents’, so she couldn’t celebrate with Steve as usual.

“Hey, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine”, Steve assured, “as soon as I manage to get my parents off my back. I’ll just make up some lie.”

Funny how Steve’s parents didn’t bother raising him but would not leave him be now that he was an adult.

“You could spend Christmas at mine… Like that, you wouldn’t have to lie”, Billy said, making it sound like an offhanded proposition.

Which it was not. At all. He’d been wondering how to bring it up ever since he knew Steve didn’t have plans for the holidays.

“That’s so sweet of you… But I don’t want to intrude on your family time. I’m sure Max would rather not spend Christmas with her Math teacher.”

Billy scoffed.

“Nonsense. She thinks you’re God’s gift to this earth.”

Max would have killed him if she had heard him disclose this to Steve, but she wasn’t there. So…

“You’re _so_ exaggerating.” Steve replied, shaking his head.

“Am not! She once told me, and I quote, ‘you’re the best’. And she wouldn’t say that about anyone.”

“Really?”

Steve’s eyes were wide with surprise, as if he didn’t know how popular he was among his students.

Billy rolled his eyes.

“Yes, really.”

Steve smiled brightly.

“I’m still not sure I believe that… But, if you’re sure she wouldn’t mind…”

Oh, Billy _was_. Because he had asked her already. She had agreed immediately, before saying: “you and Steve sure seem to have gotten awfully close”, with an all too knowing smile. Billy had simply replied: “we’re good friends”, choosing to ignore what Max was insinuating. She most probably hadn’t bought his bullshit, but she had not called him out on it. Billy had considered that a win.

“I’m sure.”

Their conversation was interrupted by Murray, who came out of nowhere and asked if he could borrow Steve for a second.

He didn’t wait for an answer before he all but dragged Steve away from Heather and Billy. Steve managed to thank Billy for the invitation before being kidnapped. Billy hoped it meant he would accept it.

“I can’t believe he’s that oblivious”, Billy marveled, “I mean, he’s gotta know the entire school thinks he’s the best thing since sliced bread.”

“Funny you’d say that” Heather replied with a teasing glint in her eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“You calling Steve oblivious… it’s kind of the pot calling the kettle black, you know?”

Billy frowned.

“No, I don’t know. Why would you say that?”

“You’re clever, Billy boy. You’ll figure it out.” Heather said, patting Billy on the shoulder patronizingly.

Billy watched, stunned, as she left the teachers’ lounge.

What was the meaning of this? What was Billy supposedly oblivious of?

-

Friday evening, when he came home, he told Max that Steve would indeed be coming over for Christmas.

She said: “cool”, with a small smile. But then, her smile wobbled as her lower lip began trembling, and suddenly Billy was faced with a crying teenager.

While he cried fairly often, Max barely ever did. At least, not in front of him. So, Billy was at a loss. They were not the kind of siblings who hugged, really. Maybe he should make an exception, but Billy didn’t want to invade Max’s space, fearing it would only upset her more.

He opted to rub her back awkwardly.

“What’s wrong?”

She had been fine with Billy inviting Steve, so it couldn’t be about that. Could it?

“El refused to talk to me today, because now Mike is nice to me, and she has a crush on him and she thinks he’s into me and she thinks I’m into him, but I don’t, and I’m sure he doesn’t either. El is all he talks about, and…”

Max was speaking faster and faster. The pace, added to the fact she was crying, made it very hard for Billy to understand anything she was saying.

“Hey, hey, slow down a bit. Have you told El this?”

“No… I tried but she didn’t listen.”

“Well… Maybe try texting her, and then leave her some space. I’m sure she’ll come around”, Billy advised.

Max sniffed.

“Maybe.”

She took her phone out of her pocket and proceeded to type what seemed to be an entire novel.

On Saturday, Max still seemed upset. She wasn’t saying much, and she kept checking her phone with a dejected look on her face.

Billy had to do something to cheer her up, and the only thing he could come up with was taking her out for some ice-cream. Yes, it was December and the temperature was so low Billy feared he would never feel warm again, but Max was the biggest fan of ice-cream he had ever met, so he knew it wouldn’t stop her.

They went to the mall, at an ice-cream parlor called Scoops Ahoy. Billy didn’t immediately notice the teenager behind the counter, a Senior from Hawkins High wearing the tackiest sailor costume imaginable as a uniform. Billy only had eyes for Steve, whom he noticed the second he entered the parlor. He was sitting at a booth with a girl. There were empty sundae bowls in front of them, and they were talking in hushed tones.

Billy approached their table to say hi, reckoning it would be impolite not too, even if Steve had yet to find out Billy was there, since he had his back to the entrance.

Max dutifully followed him.

“Hey, Steve.”

Steve startled, and turned to Billy. He instantly blushed a deep shade of red, for a reason Billy couldn’t figure out with certainty. Was Steve on a date?

“Hi Billy… Max.”

Max waved her hand, too focused on her phone screen to look up from it. Steve didn’t seem offended.

“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” Billy asked, glancing in the girl’s direction.

“Oh, yeah… Sorry. This is Nancy… uh… an old friend of mine.”

Nancy narrowed her eyes at Steve as he called her “an old friend”. This couldn’t be a good sign.

Billy tuned Steve out as he introduced Max and him to Nancy, focusing on her facial expression.

“Nice to meet you”, Nancy said.

She sounded sincere enough, surprisingly.

“Likewise… we’ll leave you to it. Have a nice afternoon.”

“You too”, she replied.

As they reached the counter, Billy finally noticed the kid behind it and had to hold his laughter in, which was no easy feat.

The poor kid looked embarrassed enough at being seen in such a predicament by not one but two of the teachers from his school. Also, he must have been freezing, wearing shorts and a t-shirt in an ice-cream shop. Billy was amused, but he also sympathized. He wouldn’t want to be in this kid’s shoes.

Billy and Max placed their orders, just two scoops of strawberry for him, and a giant sundae for her. The kid prepared their orders in no time, probably eager to put an end to this uncomfortable situation. Billy gave him more money than necessary and told him to keep the change.

“The poor guy”, Billy said, as Max and he sat down at one of the booths with their ice-cream. “He must be getting hell at school because of the whole sailor thing.”

Teenagers were cruel.

Max shrugged.

“You know… Dustin told me Steve worked here during the summer of his Senior year.”

“Oh my God… You’re telling me he had to wear… this?” Billy asked, positively gleeful.

“Yep”, she replied before taking a spoonful of ice-cream. It was a wonder she didn’t get brain freeze.

Billy wanted to laugh at Steve, but then he made the mistake of imagining what Steve would look like in the tacky sailor uniform… and it suddenly didn’t seem as ridiculous. Ridiculously hot, maybe.

Billy had played himself.

As they ate, he kept throwing glances at Steve and Nancy.

Max noticed. Of course, she did.

“I’m pretty sure that’s Mike’s sister.”

“What?” Billy asked, frowning.

“That woman, with Steve. I think it’s Mike’s sister. I saw a photo of her at his house the other day.”

The Wheeler family apparently had something against Billy’s. But he chose not to focus on that in order to address a more pressing matter.

“What were you doing at Mike’s in the first place?”

Max nearly dropped her spoon.

“We were just playing D&D I swear.”

Billy glared at her. He believed her, but it didn’t change the fact she had gone there without his permission.

“I’m sorry…” Max apologized pitifully.

If she hadn’t been upset because of El, Billy would have pressed the issue. He’d let it fly, but just this once.

“Just eat your ice-cream”, he said.

Max, happy to oblige, stuffed her face with more of the frozen treat, while Billy kept looking at Steve and the Wheeler girl.

She took a thick brown envelope out of her purse and extended it to Steve. He handled it as if it was the most precious thing he had ever held.

Billy would have killed to know what was in it.

As they got up and hugged tightly, Billy sighed. He remembered how wonderful Steve’s hugs were. He wished he could go over there and take Nancy’s place. 

Steve watched Nancy go. Billy watched Steve watch Nancy go. It was a little pathetic, but he couldn’t help himself.

When Steve turned toward him, though, Billy averted his eyes immediately, hoping against all hope that he hadn’t been caught staring. 

Steve came to their table.

“Hey again, I just wanted to ask you what I should bring on Tuesday?”

Billy had told Steve to come for Christmas Eve dinner, and to stay the night so he could spend Christmas lunch with them on Christmas day. It had taken some convincing, but Billy had refused to take ‘no’ for an answer, so Steve had had to surrender, eventually.

“Nothing, just bring yourself.”

“Come on, I already feel bad about crashing your holiday, you’ve gotta at least let me bring something.”

Here was Steve, basically pleading with Billy.

“Okay, okay, fine. Bring whatever you want, then.”

Steve laughed.

“That’s not really how that’s supposed to work. But it’ll do.”

He bid Max and Billy goodbye and left. Billy’s eyes stayed glued on his retreating form until he was out of Scoops Ahoy and out of view.

When he focused on Max once again, she had a shit-eating grin on her face.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

She looked down at her now empty bowl, but she wouldn’t stop smiling.

“What?” Billy asked again, out of sorts.

“You like Steve.”

“Sure I like him, he’s nice.”

Max rolled her eyes.

“I mean, you like like him.”

“First of all, don’t say I ‘like like’ someone ever again, I’m not in middle school anymore”, he requested, “Second, that’s bullshit.”

“ _You’re_ bullshit.”

“Seriously? What are you, five years old?”

Max stuck her tongue out at him, confirming she was indeed five years old.

At least, Billy had managed to cheer her up, even if it was at his expense.

-

On Tuesday, Billy spent the entire day cooking and praying he wouldn’t mess anything up. He liked baking but cooking wasn’t his forte. He could do basic dishes just fine, but he rarely bothered doing anything fancy. This time, though, he really did bother.

The decorations were up, the presents were under the tree, as neatly wrapped as possible (that is to say, not very), so all Billy had to focus on was the food. And it was a lot, as it was.

“Stop fretting, I’m sure it’s gonna be delicious”, Max told him, sprawled over the couch, drinking hot cocoa.

“Right… No thanks to you, you couch potato.”

“Not my fault, you told me I wasn’t allowed to go near the stove or oven anymore.”

Billy pouted. She had a point. Still, she could have helped chop the vegetables.

He finished preparing everything a mere half-hour before Steve was supposed to arrive. Billy ended up using this half-hour to shower and get ready. He wasn’t done fussing over his hair when Steve knocked on the door. He could have asked his sister to get it, but he didn’t want to seem that invested in looking good for Steve when Max was already on his ass for ‘like liking’ the guy.

When he exited the bathroom, he noted Max had still not moved from her spot on the couch and was now typing on her phone. It was all she ever did these days, it seemed.

He opened the door and all coherent thought instantly fled his mind. Steve was wearing a knitted Christmas sweater with snowflakes and reindeers on it. He had no right to look as cute and, frankly, hot as he did in this monstrosity. No right.

“Hey! It smells delicious in there.” Steve said as he came in.

“Thanks… I hope it tastes as good as it smells. Can I help you with some of that?”

Steve was carrying a duffel bag, as well as two brown paper bags.

“Uh… yeah. Here”, he handed Billy one of the bags, which contained the presents. Billy took it to the tree and placed the packages under it. They were far better wrapped than Billy’s.

Steve put the other brown paper bag on the kitchen counter.

“I brought wine, sparkling grape juice for Max, and a cookies decoration kit… I thought maybe we could make some Christmas cookies together tomorrow… I mean, if you’d like.”

“Sure, that sounds great.” Billy said. “Thanks for bringing all this.”

“Thanks for humoring me by letting me bring it”, Steve replied with a chuckle.

“Anytime.”

Billy reached for the strap of Steve’s duffel bag, letting his hand brush against Steve’s shoulder in the process.

“I’ll put this in my room.”

Steve cleared his throat.

“Thank you.”

After that, Max joined them and Billy didn’t lose any time before pouring everyone a drink. They chatted until the oven beeped, signaling it was time for dinner.

Billy was nervous as he placed the food over the table, but as soon as Steve took a bite and moaned, he relaxed. Well, he relaxed as much as he could after he’d just heard Steve moan (how was Billy supposed not to imagine how Steve sounded like during sex when he kept making these kind of noises every time he ate something remotely tasty?).

“It’s def as delicious as it smells.”

Billy hoped he wasn’t blushing as he thanked Steve.

“Max, what do you think?” He asked, to distract himself from his guest. 

“Yeah, yeah. You know it’s good.” She said, rolling her eyes.

It was as good a reaction as he could have hoped from her.

Steve complimented the following dishes as well, and Max manifested her agreement, albeit reluctantly, so Billy counted dinner as a success.

After dessert, they moved to the living-room and watched a corny Christmas movie. For how tough she acted, Max ate this kind of shit up. And, okay, maybe Billy liked it too, even if he’d rather die than admit to it. He didn’t know what Steve thought, but he seemed entertained enough. Anyway, Billy refused to ask him if he’d prefer doing something else, because he was too afraid it would require them moving from their current position. With Steve pressed against his side, moving was the last thing Billy wanted to do

By the time the movie ended, it was past midnight, so they decided to open the presents.

Max went first.

She got a red leather jacket from Billy. She seemed to love it. At least, she thanked him with a lot more enthusiasm than she was used to display.

Steve got her a skateboard, that he customized with paint. It looked beautiful and, in Max’s own words: “cool as fuck”. Billy didn’t even have the heart to scold her for cursing in front of their guest, who happened to be one of her teachers, at that. Steve didn’t seem to mind, anyway. He just said he was happy she liked it.

“I hope you won’t break this one”, Billy said.

“I hope so, too.”

Max then gave Billy and Steve their gifts. She had bought the both of them tickets for an Indiana Jones night organized by Hawkins’ movie theater. She told them she knew for a fact they both loved the saga (because she obviously knew Billy’s tastes quite well, and because Steve apparently had Indiana Jones as his computer’s wallpaper).

“And… maybe, I can host D&D at the flat while you’re at the theater… you know”, she suggested, devious as ever.

“Maybe”, Billy said, even though he already knew he would say yes.

He wouldn’t deny her on Christmas day. He wasn’t a monster.

Max’s smile showed she knew as well as Billy did that she had won.

Steve got Billy a soft woolen scarf, since he was always cold and didn’t dress accordingly, and a ‘seaside wood’ Yankee Candle, since he had mentioned missing the ocean.

“I know it’s just a dumb candle and it won’t bring the beach to Hawkins or whatever… but-”

Billy interrupted Steve’s rambling:

“I love it.”

Billy had bought Steve a painting apron, so he stopped staining all his shirts, and two tickets to the art exhibition he had mentioned.

“I can’t believe you remembered I talked about that. Thank you…”, Steve said softly before asking: “You’ll be coming with me, then?”

“Uh… not necessarily, you can give the other ticket to anyone you want”, Billy clarified.

“I don’t want to ask anyone else, though”, Steve immediately replied.

“I mean… I think it’d be nice… if we went together”, he added, toning down the eagerness a little.

It was too late, though. Billy wouldn’t ignore the eagerness. He would cherish it, even.

“Great, then it’s a date”, he said, deciding to show his hand.

Max would give him hell for it later, since Billy had denied liking Steve that way less than a week ago. But the radiant smile that spread on Steve’s face made it worth it.

Max yawned loudly and announced.

“I’m super tired, I think I’ll go to bed. Good night.”

She got up, quick as lightning. Two seconds later, she had disappeared into her room. Tired… right. She could have at least tried to lie with more subtlety.

“I… I actually have something else for you in my bag. I’ll be right back.”

Steve came back less than thirty seconds late. He was carrying a brown envelope in his hands… maybe… probably the same envelope the Wheeler chick had given him at Scoops Ahoy the other day.

Billy opened it slowly, despite the urge to tear into it like an overeager child.

Inside, he found sheet of papers covered in printed words. At the top, there was a title, under which was written “by Donna Tartt”. It couldn’t possibly be what Billy thought it was.

“What… ?” He didn’t even know how to formulate his question.

“Nancy, the girl I was with the other day… she works at a big publishing house… and she owed me a favor… and you mentioned loving Donna Tartt a bunch of times so… It’s only a little part of her next novel, but I’d thought you’d like a sneak peek.”

Steve was wringing his hands as he spoke.

“She must have owed you big time.”

Steve winced. “Uh… yeah, kinda.”

“I can’t believe you’d waste such a big favor… on me.” Billy said, in awe.

“Hey… I didn’t _waste_ it. Consider it an apology… I didn’t give you the warmest welcome at the beginning of the year… And I wanted you to know it had nothing to do with you.”

Billy put his hands over Steve’s to stop his fidgeting.

“Thank you, so much. It’s the best gift I ever received.”

Steve smiled.

“I can’t wait to read this. Like, it’s been ages since the last book… I mean, great things take time, for sure… but I’m basically-“

Billy didn’t have time to finish his sentence, cut by Steve’s lips landing on his. They were gone before he fully realized they had been there, so he was given no time to reciprocate.

“I’m sorry… Oh God, I’m so sorry. Just… You were getting all passionate and it always drives me nuts. I can’t believe I just planted one on you. I should have asked…I-”

“Ask me, then.”

Steve getting flustered was endearing, but Billy wanted to put an end to his suffering. He also really wanted them to kiss again. For longer than a second, preferably.

“I… What?”

“Ask me”, Billy repeated, looking pointedly at Steve’s lips.

“Oh… Right… May I kiss you?” Steve finally asked, barely above a whisper.

“Please do.”

Steve threaded his hands in Billy’s curls and leaned down to join their lips again. 

Billy expected it, this time around, but he gasped anyway. His left hand came up of its own volition to circle one of Steve’s wrists.

As Steve’s tongue passed his lips and slid against his own, Billy was grateful that he was sitting on the couch. There was no way his legs would have held his weight if he had been standing.

Steve was an amazing kisser. So much so that it made Billy’s head spin.

It was slow and unhurried, but the intensity of it made Billy’s heartbeat quicken almost alarmingly.

When they had to break the kiss in order to catch their breath, Billy didn’t wait more than three seconds before putting his lips back on Steve’s. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I wrote a Christmas chapter in August. I'm random like that lmao.


	8. Chapter 7

Billy had been planning on sleeping on the couch to leave his bed to Steve, but they ended up both taking the bed. After making out for a small eternity, sleeping in the same bed seemed like a natural development.

They both laid on their side, facing each other, and talked until they fell asleep. Steve confessed he’s been cold to Billy at first because he found him extremely attractive and didn’t know how to act. Then he had developed the biggest crush on him, and it had been even worse. Billy was relieved to finally know for sure what Steve’s aloofness had been about. He told Steve he thought it was cute that he didn’t know how to flirt. Steve was not amused, but Billy placated him with a kiss on the temple. 

At some point in the night, Billy woke up with Steve laying half on top of him, with his head on Billy’s chest. Billy wished he were able to see him, for he must have looked precious. However, it was pitch dark in the room, and Billy felt so comfortable and warm that he promptly fell back asleep.

When he woke up again, later in the morning, Steve had vanished from his bed. Billy wasn’t happy with that, but at least it gave him the incentive to get up. If Steve still had been snuggling up to him, there would have been no way Billy would have willingly left his bed.

He had to admit that the sight of Steve making coffee in his kitchen wasn’t a shabby way to start the day. The fact that Steve was wearing plaid pajama pants and the ugly Christmas sweater he had worn the day before, and that his hair was an extreme level of disheveled, made it extra endearing.

Billy came up behind him and kissed his cheek, delighted to see it pinken with Steve’s blush.

“Slept well?” he asked him.

“Amazing… And you?”

Billy smiled.

“It wasn’t half-bad.”

Steve huffed as he handed him a cup of coffee.

“Thanks, babe.”

Steve’s blush deepened significantly.

Max exited her room at that moment. She didn’t even blink at seeing her Math teacher in pajamas. She was also in her pajamas, and that didn’t seem to bother her all that much either. At least, Billy knew it wouldn’t be too awkward for Max if Steve and he became serious, which he very much hoped would occur. 

“So, did you have a good night?” Max asked Billy (she was asking the both of them, probably, but she was looking at Billy with raised eyebrows while doing it).

Billy simply answered “yes”, but his inability to stop smiling and the ever-present blush on Steve’s cheeks were explicit enough that he needn’t say more for Max to understand her little ploy from the night before had worked out perfectly.

Max ate an apple while Billy and Steve both skipped breakfast, anticipating all the food they would eat for lunch.

When Steve left to take a shower, Billy questioned Max about the ‘El situation’, before she had any time to ask about Steve and him:

“Have you and El sorted it out?”

“Yeah… She’s actually dating Mike now… So that’s not a problem anymore, I guess…” She said, making it sound like it was very much a problem.

“You seem… pretty pissed?”

She shrugged.

“It’s just… I feel like she’s going to spend all of her time with him now…”

She crossed her arms over her chest.

Billy was going to assure her it was going to be alright, but Max spoke again before he could:

“Plus… she could do a lot better than him.”

Not that Billy disagreed with Max, but he was wondering if Max were saying that just because she was supportive of her closest friend, or if there were more to it… He wouldn’t ask, though. If Max wanted to bring it up, she would.

“At least she has you to look out for her”, Billy replied.

He was sure Max wouldn’t hesitate to jump into action if Mike ever hurt El. He could only hope it wouldn’t get too ugly if this happened.

-

Once everyone had showered, Billy and Steve cooked together while Max got started on the Christmas cookies. Billy could get used to the domesticity of it. In fact, getting used to it would probably be all too easy.

They decided they would put the icing on the cookies after lunch.

The three of them participated in the decorating process, but Steve unsurprisingly put Billy and Max (but especially Billy) to shame, even though he assured them they had done great when Billy pointed it out.

“Man, seriously, I almost don’t feel legitimate in eating the ones you decorated. They’re too pretty, I don’t want to ruin it.”

Steve rolled his eyes.

“Shut up and have a taste.”

He brought one of the prettiest cookies to Billy’s mouth and waited for him to take a bite.

It was Billy’s turn to roll his eyes. He still took a bite, though, holding onto Steve’s wrist as he did. It was unnecessary: Billy just seized the opportunity to touch Steve.

“What’s the verdict?”

“They’re great.”

“Mh, let’s see.” Steve took a bite out of the same cookie Billy had eaten a piece of.

It made Billy heat up, which was a bit stupid considering they had had their tongue in each other’s mouth the night before.

“Yeah, they’re pretty good”, Steve said with a goofy smile.

Billy smiled back and glanced in Max’s direction. Thankfully, she wasn’t paying attention, too busy texting. There was a cookie hanging from her mouth, though, so she wasn’t too busy to think about food. It was reassuring.

They spent the entire afternoon together, playing cards and watching another dumb Christmas movie. Steve left in the evening. Billy would have loved kissing him goodbye, but he held back. Yes, Max basically knew already, but Billy didn’t know how Steve felt about public displays of affection. 

Max surprisingly didn’t make any comment after Steve’s departure. Billy wasn’t sure why she chose not to brag about how right she had been, but he was grateful. 

-

Billy had offered to drive them to Indianapolis for the art exhibition. He was a little nervous, because it was their first official date, but also because he had gone on very few dates in his life. Fortunately, the fact that he had hung out with Steve many times before, and that they had kissed a couple days prior, reduced some of the stress.

Steve was obviously not in the same mindset. His stress level seemed to be maximal. Billy had a lot of experience in dealing with nervous Steve, by now, so he noticed as soon as Steve entered the car.

Billy opted not to address it outright, thinking it might be counterproductive by making Steve even more nervous.

Steve barely said a word during the ride. Billy had to try something before they exited the car. He wanted Steve to enjoy himself at the museum, and he couldn’t imagine he’d have a pleasant time if he kept being this anxious.

As Steve was about to open the car door, Billy held him back with a hand around his forearm.

Steve looked at him interrogatingly.

Billy prayed what he was about to do wouldn’t just make everything worse, and then he kissed him. 

Steve startled but quickly relaxed into the kiss. Thank God. Billy wanted to keep going, maybe grip Steve’s hair and deepen the kiss, maybe even climb onto his lap right there in the passenger seat. But they were parked in a busy street in the middle of the day. Also, he simply meant to help Steve relax, his plan wasn’t for either of them to end up with a boner. So, he reluctantly broke the kiss.

“We can go, now”, he just said.

“Okay… yeah”, Steve replied, slightly stunned. 

Billy’s tactic paid off: after the kiss, Steve seemed excited in a good way instead of anxious. 

When Billy tried to hold his hand in the museum, though, Steve apologized because his hands were clammy, so maybe some of the nervousness was still there.

“I don’t mind, you know. But if you’d rather not, that’s fine.”

“I… uh… You sure?” Steve stammered, wiping his hand on his jeans.

Billy nodded and reached for his hand again. This time, Steve let him lace their fingers, and he didn’t let go until they left the museum. Even when he was speaking animatedly about one of the pieces of art exhibited, his hand stayed in Billy’s. And Billy knew Steve usually talked with his hands a lot.

As they got back to Billy’s car, Steve said:

“It was amazing! Thank you so much.”

“No problem”, Billy replied, smiling at Steve’s enthusiasm.

Max had called Billy a nerd for getting emotional over Donna Tartt’s writing when he had read the sneak peek from her next novel (as soon as Steve had left their flat on Christmas day), but Steve was as much of a nerd as he was. Max wouldn’t have mocked him for it, though, because she thought he was cool, for some reason.

On their way back from Indianapolis, they stopped at a diner. Steve insisted to pay for the food, because Billy had bought the tickets and had driven them to the museum. Billy argued that it didn’t count because it was a Christmas gift, but Steve wouldn’t hear it, so Billy relented with a roll of his eyes.

For dessert, they shared a strawberry milkshake like a couple of cheesy teenagers, and Billy wasn’t even mad about it.

They kissed again, in the car, when Billy dropped Steve off at his place. Once he was gone, Billy could only think about seeing him again. Fortunately for him, the Indiana Jones movie night was on Saturday night, that is to say the very next day.

-

Max’s merry band of nerds arrived one hour before Steve would come fetch Billy on Saturday night. And Billy was not amused: he was trying to grade papers in the kitchen (because he had the brillant idea to give an assignment right before the holidays) while they were eating pizza in the living-room, and he was constantly getting sidetracked. They were so loud, God!

Will came up behind Billy without him noticing because, unlike his obnoxious friends, Will was quiet as a mouse.

He startled and tried to cover it up by calmly asking Will if there was something he wanted.

“I was wondering if you could… uh… check out the comic I made… It’s not finished yet, but… I’d like to know what you think.”

“Sure thing.”

Billy held his hand out, palm up, so Will would hand him the homemade booklet he was holding in a vice grip.

“Thank you” Will said, thrusting the comic in Billy’s hand.

Billy opened it and Will instantly exclaimed:

“Don’t!”

Billy’s eyes widened. He hadn’t been expecting such an outburst from such a shy person.

“I’m sorry…” Will blushed bright red, “I just… could you maybe look at it when I’m not there…”

“Okay…”

Billy closed the booklet and put it under the pile of papers that he had yet to grade.

“Thanks… I’ll get back to the guys, they’re… uh… they’re probably going to start the campaign soon.”

“Have fun…”

Will gave a little smile and went back where he came from.

When Steve texted Billy to tell him he was waiting for him in front of his building, Billy grabbed his jacket and keys and, before leaving, he warned the kids:

“No funny business.”

Max rolled her eyes, El just smiled, and the boys all looked terrified.

Good.

The second Billy was in the passenger seat, Steve kissed him. It was short, but so sweet that Billy nearly melted.

“Hi”, Steve said with a bright smile.

“Hey.”

This date was starting on a very good note.

On the way to the theatre, Billy brought up Will’s comic.

“Oh, he showed you!? I’m so glad he’s sharing his work with someone! He must really look up to you.”

“I mean… Maybe, I don’t know.”

“Oh, I do know. Believe me. He’s been working on it for weeks and he wouldn’t let anyone get a look. It means a lot to him”, Steve assured.

Billy felt validated as a teacher all over again, and it once again didn’t have anything to do with teaching English.

They were still talking about it when they entered the theatre hand in hand, but Billy stopped in the middle of a sentence to ask:

“Isn’t that Robin and Heather, over there?”

Steve followed his gaze and suddenly pulled his hand away. 

“Oh yeah, let’s go say hi”, he said, as if he hadn’t just dropped Billy’s hand like he would a hot potato.

Billy followed despite his puzzlement. He wasn’t about to make a scene in the middle of a movie theatre over something that might not have been that serious.

About ten seconds into their conversation with Heather and Robin, Robin announced she and Heather were getting married next year, before showing them her engagement ring.

Billy was genuinely happy for his friends, but Steve’s attitude soured his mood once again when Robin asked them how their break was going so far, and Steve answered “good”, before steering the conversation back to Robin and Heather’s engagement. Billy didn’t want to read too much into it, but he was starting to get suspicious.

Didn’t Steve want Heather and Robin to know about them? Why wouldn’t he? They were his closest friends, and they were both gay, so it wasn’t like they would react badly, right? It had to mean Billy was the problem. Maybe Steve was ashamed of him. Maybe that was the real reason why he hadn’t dealt well with having a crush on him.

Billy’s thoughts were reeling. He told Steve he was going to buy some popcorn, just so he’d have some time to get a grip on himself.

When he got back to Steve, Heather and Robin with a bucket of popcorn and two cokes, he still hadn’t calmed down. In fact, he was feeling even worse.

He powered through the first two movies, trying to focus on them but finding himself unable to. He didn’t touch the popcorn, no matter how many times Steve asked him if he wanted some. In the middle of the third one, the last movie of the night, Billy couldn’t take it anymore. He needed to get away. He got up and left without warning Steve.

Of course, Steve joined him in the hall barely ten minutes later, sitting next to him on the bench.

“Hey, are you okay? I thought you had taken a bathroom break but you weren’t coming back…”

“’m fine”, Billy mumbled.

“Are you sure?”

Steve reached out for Billy’s hand, but Billy crossed his arms before he could take it in his.

“Are you mad at me?” Steve asked.

Billy turned toward Steve, which was a big mistake because he was fatally wounded by the sadness in Steve’s big brown eyes. Damn him, Billy couldn’t even be angry at him for five minutes.

“I don’t know. Are you ashamed of me?”

He had meant to sound vindictive, but he sounded pitiful more than anything.

“God, no!”

“Then why don’t you want Heather and Robin to know about us?”

“It’s not that! Well, not really… I mean, it’s just that Robin has been pestering me for months, telling me I should tell you I have a crush on you… So, I don’t really want to tell her about us just yet… ‘cause she’s just going to gloat and tell me she was right all along… I wanted us to stay in our bubble for a while longer, I guess.”

“Oh…”

It did make sense. Billy was not a hundred percent reassured, but he realized he might have been a little overdramatic.

“I’m sorry I gave you the wrong idea… I didn’t handle that very smoothly.”

Steve grimaced.

“It’s okay.” 

“Is it, really?”

“Yes.”

They didn’t go back inside, choosing to make out in the empty hall instead. They had both seen the movie at least ten times, anyway.

When the first spectators exited the theatre, indicating the end of the movie, Billy put some distance between Steve and himself, so Heather and Robin wouldn’t find them in a compromising situation.

However, Steve wouldn’t have it. He took his hand and got up, pulling Billy up with him.

“What are you doing?”

Billy was confused as Steve dragged him to Heather and Robin, who immediately fixed her eyes on their joined hands.

“Billy and I are together”, Steve declared in a challenging tone, as if he were daring Robin to say something about it.

“I’m so happy for you, dingus!”

She hugged Steve tightly. He seemed bewildered by the lack of mocking. It nearly made Billy laugh.

“Finally! I was on the verge of coming up with a stupid plan to get you two to see the light”, Heather said.

“She contemplated asking you to accompany the basketball team on their next away trip and booking you a room with only one bed.”

Billy arched an eyebrow.

“Seriously?”

“It was just talk. I wouldn’t have done it… probably.” 

“Right, hon”, Robin conceded, patting Heather on the back. She pouted.

She then asked Steve and Billy what their plans were for New Year’s Eve.

Billy had none: Max would be spending the night at the Byers’. El and her father were invited too. Joyce had asked Billy if he wanted to come along, but he had an inkling there was something between Joyce and Hopper, so he had declined, afraid the kids would do their own thing and leave him to third wheel.

Steve had no plans either.

“You guys can come over then. It will be like a double date”, Heather said, sounding excited at the prospect.

They accepted the invitation, and then everyone went home, fortunately for Robin, who seemed to be on the verge of falling asleep on her feet, by then.

Once they were back in Steve’s car, Billy said:

“Thank you for telling them. You didn’t have to.”

Steve smiled at him.

“I did. I couldn’t let you think this meant nothing to me.”

When Steve stopped the car in front of Billy’s building, Billy kissed him hard to show his appreciation. He wished he could invite Steve to come upstairs with him, but there was most certainly a gaggle of teenagers asleep in his living room, so it would be for another time.

-

On New Year’s Eve, Billy baked a three-layer velvet cake, even though it was far too much for four people. He just wanted to make something pretty to look at.

He had not foreseen it would be a pain to carry it from his place to Robin and Heather’s. He ended up having to ask Steve for a ride, so he could hold onto the cake on the whole way.

The second they set foot in the apartment, Robin asked Steve to go put the cake in the kitchen and see if Heather needed help.

Then she stared at Billy and said:

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you, William.”

Okay, Billy had found it suspicious when she had got Steve out of the room, but now he was downright scared.

“See, I like you. You’re kind of a jackass, but deep down you’re a good guy. However, you should know that if you ever hurt Steve, I will hurt you right back.”

“If I ever do, you can do whatever you want to do to me.”

Robin stared at him some more.

“You’re alright. For now.”

Steve chose that moment to exit the kitchen with a tray of appetizers and Robin pretended she hadn’t just threatened Billy with bodily harm.

The rest of the night went smoothly. They had a good time, the food tasted amazing, and Billy got to make out with Steve at midnight. He could not have imagined a better way to end the year and start the new one. He had never cared much about new year’s celebrations and all that jazz, but he was actually excited about the year to come, for once. Max seemed happier than she had been in a long time, Billy had a job that made him feel like he could make a difference, he had friends, and he had Steve to share all of this and so much more with.

As they laid together on the pullout couch from the guestroom-slash-office later that night, Billy brought up what Robin had said:

“You know, Robin actually gave me the shovel talk earlier.”

Steve hid his face in his hands.

“That’s why she exiled me to the kitchen?! God, I’m sorry.”

“It wasn’t that traumatizing, don’t worry. And it’s not your fault anyway.”

“I mean… It kind of is? Robin has always been overprotective of me… I think it’s ‘cause when I met her my high school girlfriend had just left me for another guy… and I was having a rough time.”

Many things came to Billy’s mind regarding Steve’s ex-girlfriend, but none of them were remotely polite.

“I’m sorry this happened to you”, he opted to say, putting an arm over Steve’s waist and pulling him closer.

“Thanks… I kinda deserved it, though. I was a douchebag at the time.”

Billy couldn’t imagine Steve being a douchebag. Then again, Billy himself had come a long way since high school, so it shouldn’t be that hard to believe Steve had gone through a similar process. 

“I am not convinced.”

“You think too highly of me”, Steve said, tracing one of Billy’s forearm tattoos with his forefinger.

“I don’t. You just don’t realize how amazing you are.”

“Shut up”, Steve mumbled, as a blush spread on his cheeks.

“Okay.”

Billy did shut up, so he could put his lips to better use.

He would have kissed Steve all night if they hadn’t both been so tired from staying up late into the night.

It was fine though, they had all the time in the world. At least, that was how it felt like to Billy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it, guys! I wasn't sure where to end the story because it was mostly plotless fluff and could go on forever ah ah. But I go back to uni tomorrow and I wanted to wrap this fic up before I did, so here we are ;)
> 
> Thanks to everyone who gave this story a chance, and thanks a lot for the support! <3 
> 
> Have a good night/day ;)

**Author's Note:**

> My Tumblr is https://lightsupinthenorth.tumblr.com/ don't hesitate to hit me up if you'd like ;)


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